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Japanese
English
Audio: NHK Creative Library
Read by LibriVox volunteer Larry Wilson.
Audio courtesy of LibriVox (Public Domain).
後徳大寺左大臣
ほととぎす
鳴きつる方を
ながむれば
ただ有明の
月ぞ残れる
たたありあ
けのつきそ
のこれる
ほ
- Poem 81
- ほととぎす
鳴きつる方を
ながむれば
ただ有明の 月ぞ残れる
Author: Later Tokudaiji Minister of the Left (1139–1191)
Source: Senzai Wakashū, Summer
- English Verse Translation
- The cuckoo's echo dies away, And lo! the branch is bare I only see the morning moon, Whose
light is fading there Before the daylight's glare.
— William N. Porter, 1909
- Modern Translation
- I looked toward where the cuckoo had just called — and all that remained was the pale moon at dawn.
- Commentary
- This poem was composed on the topic of "hearing the cuckoo's cry at dawn." The cuckoo's first call of the season, announcing the arrival of summer, held a special charm for people of the Heian period, and Fujiwara no Sanesada himself may have been eagerly awaiting it. Heian nobles were said to stay up through the night straining their ears for that very first cry, savoring the moment when it finally came.
- About the Poet
- The Later Tokudaiji Minister of the Left, Fujiwara no Sanesada, was a cousin of Fujiwara no Teika, the compiler of the Hyakunin Isshu. Beyond his gift for poetry, he was also celebrated as a master musician. Since his grandfather had also held the post of Minister of the Left of the Tokudaiji, he came to be known as the "Later" Tokudaiji Minister of the Left.
- Later Tokudaiji Minister of the Left's Chart of the Heart
-
A chart and a modern-language reflection of the poet's inner feelings.
The Poet's Feelings (A Personal Interpretation)
I certainly heard your voice,
and yet I can't find you anywhere.Only the moon left in the quiet sky
spoke of that fleeting beauty.
- Poem Illustration
-
This image is based on an illustration from William N. Porter's A Hundred Verses from Old Japan, his 1909 English translation of the Hyakunin Isshu published in England, colorized and reworked using Adobe Firefly (generative AI).