I decided to translate a series of summer poems from the Kokinshuu (135-150). I said before that Ki no Tsurayuki did not only choose poems based on their individual quality but on how they would fit in a series. I was originally planning to release the whole 32 poem series but it was taking too long so this is only half of the summer poem section.
The first thing you'll probably think reading through it is "Why are there so many damn cuckoos?" Yeah I felt the same way and it is unfortunate that hototogisu only translates to cuckoo since I don't know about you but every time I hear the word cuckoo I think of those annoying clocks. The cuckoo is however an important poetic image and device in the Japanese poetic tradition and also it fits well with these kind of Japanese poems called tanka. Tanka follow a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure and hotogisu being five syllables works well. The cuckoo is a migratory bird that arrives in Japan in mid-May and so is the harbinger of summer for a lot of Japanese. Here is a picture of it courtesy of this website.
It's song is quite sad and you can hear it here on the Japanese Wikipedia site. Just scroll down and it is on the right side. The cuckoo is a nice poetic image and can be used as a metaphor for a lot of different things but mainly it is supposed to provoke sadness. The orange blossom is also a standard poetic tool for Japanese poets when referring to summer with not much significance that I'm aware of aside from the fact it blooms in summer.
Old Japanese poetry from Heian period was usually seasonal and unfortunately summer is by far not the most interesting season and I don't think that many summer poems have made it to special notoriety. You will notice that most of the poems have anonymous authors which implies that either the poets were not well known or did not want to put their name to the poem. Compare this with the autumn or spring sections which are full of famous poets of that time period. I wanted to translate these poems because, well it is summer now and I thought I could find some nice poems hidden beneath all the cuckoos. In the next few days I am going to write a new post with some analysis about some individual poems.
This section in particular does have a clear chronological pattern. The first five poems represent that time in between spring and summer when it is still ambiguous and then the last ten are clearly in summer. It is interesting that almost all of these poems are sad and depressing. This goes against my instinct being an American kid growing up and looking forward to summer all year. Why was summer so depressing for Japanese poets back then? It's a good question of which I don't have a good answer aside from that summer does lack the nice poetic images like blooming cherry blossoms or crimson leaves.
I hope you can enjoy the poems and the pictures are from the summer I spent in Japan. I should also note that to aid me with these translations I referred to this website to help me get my head around the poem as well as the book I am using has some explanations about the poems but it's all in Japanese.
137
138
題知らず
Topic Unknown
139
題知らず
140
題知らず
Topic Unknown
141
題知らず
Topic Unknown
142
143
144
146
147
148
149
150
The first thing you'll probably think reading through it is "Why are there so many damn cuckoos?" Yeah I felt the same way and it is unfortunate that hototogisu only translates to cuckoo since I don't know about you but every time I hear the word cuckoo I think of those annoying clocks. The cuckoo is however an important poetic image and device in the Japanese poetic tradition and also it fits well with these kind of Japanese poems called tanka. Tanka follow a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure and hotogisu being five syllables works well. The cuckoo is a migratory bird that arrives in Japan in mid-May and so is the harbinger of summer for a lot of Japanese. Here is a picture of it courtesy of this website.
Old Japanese poetry from Heian period was usually seasonal and unfortunately summer is by far not the most interesting season and I don't think that many summer poems have made it to special notoriety. You will notice that most of the poems have anonymous authors which implies that either the poets were not well known or did not want to put their name to the poem. Compare this with the autumn or spring sections which are full of famous poets of that time period. I wanted to translate these poems because, well it is summer now and I thought I could find some nice poems hidden beneath all the cuckoos. In the next few days I am going to write a new post with some analysis about some individual poems.
This section in particular does have a clear chronological pattern. The first five poems represent that time in between spring and summer when it is still ambiguous and then the last ten are clearly in summer. It is interesting that almost all of these poems are sad and depressing. This goes against my instinct being an American kid growing up and looking forward to summer all year. Why was summer so depressing for Japanese poets back then? It's a good question of which I don't have a good answer aside from that summer does lack the nice poetic images like blooming cherry blossoms or crimson leaves.
I hope you can enjoy the poems and the pictures are from the summer I spent in Japan. I should also note that to aid me with these translations I referred to this website to help me get my head around the poem as well as the book I am using has some explanations about the poems but it's all in Japanese.
135
題知らず
わがやどの他の藤波咲きにけり山ほととぎすいつか来鳴かむ
よみ人知らず
Topic: Unknown
In my garden,
Another wave of wisteria
Has come to bloom.
Cuckoos of the mountain
When you will grace us with your song?
Author Unknown
 |
| Taken in Hikone |
136
卯月に咲ける桜を見てよめる
あはれてふことをあまたにやらじとや春におくれてひとり咲くらむ
紀利貞
Composed looking at a cherry blossom tree in the fourth
month of the lunar year
Alas! How moving…
These words of praise
I wish to say of everything.
Spring is passing
Is this the only cherry in bloom?
Ki no Toshisada
137
題知らず
五月待つ山ほととぎすうちはぶき今も鳴かなむこぞのふる声
よみ人知らず
Topic Unknown
Waiting for the fifth month,
Cuckoos from the mountains
Beat your wings!
Already I want to hear your song,
The song I remember…
Author Unknown
138
題知らず
五月来ば鳴きもふりなむほととぎすまだしきほどの声を聞かばや
伊勢
Topic Unknown
When the fifth
month arrives
The songs of the
cuckoo
Will also have
matured.
I wish I could
hear the cuckoo’s song
Young and full of
innocence.
Lady Ise
 |
| Taken at Meiji Shrine in Tokyo |
139
題知らず
五月待つ花橘の香をかげば昔の人の袖の香ぞする
よみ人知らず
Topic Unknown
Awaiting the
fifth month,
When the
fragrance
Of the orange
blossom reaches me
I can smell the
perfumed sleeves of
Someone dear,
someone from the past.
Author Unknown
 |
| Taken in Kyoto |
140
題知らず
いつのまに五月来ぬらむあしひきの山ほととぎす今ぞ鳴くなる
よみ人知らず
Topic Unknown
I hobble along
this mountain path,
The songs of the
cuckoo
Are now reaching
my ears.
Is it true? Are
we in the midst
Of the fifth
month already?
Author Unknown
141
題知らず
けさ来鳴きいまだ旅なるほととぎす花橘に宿はからなむ
よみ人知らず
Topic Unknown
This morning I
could hear
The cuckoo’s
song.
You seem to be
travelling,
I would love to
offer you lodging
In my orange
blossom tree.
Author Unknown
142
音羽山を越えける時に、ほととぎすの鳴くをききてよめる
音羽山けさ越え来ればほととぎすこずるはるかに今ぞ鳴くなる
紀友則
This poem was
composed when the author was traversing the Otowa mountains and heard the call
of a cuckoo
This morning, as
we pass through
The Otowa
Mountains,
Far away, among
the tree tops
There’s a cuckoo.
Its song reaches
my ears.
Ki no Tomonori
143
ほととぎすのはじめて鳴きけるをききてよめる
ほととぎす初声聞けばあぢきなくぬしさだまらね恋せらるはた
素性
Composed after
hearing the first cuckoo of the season,
The cuckoo,
Upon hearing its
first song,
With no one
around,
I feel in vain
The pangs of
love.
Monk Sosei
 |
| Taken in Kyoto |
144
奈良の石上寺にてほととぎすの鳴くをよめる
いそのかみふるき都のほととぎす声ばかりこそ昔なりけれ
素性
Composed at Iso
no Kami temple in Nara after hearing the cuckoo’s call
Iso no Kami,
The ancient
capital.
The song of the
cuckoo,
It is the only
thing,
That has not
changed…
Monk Sosei
145
145
題知らず
夏山に鳴くほととぎす心あらばもの思ふ我に声なきかせそ
よみ人知らず
Topic Unknown
In the summery
mountains,
The sad songs of
the cuckoo…
If you had a
heart,
You would know
that your song
Stirs painful
memories in me.
Author Unknown
 |
| Taken in Tokyo |
146
題知らず
ほととぎす鳴く声きけば別れにしふるさとさへぞ恋しかりける
よみ人知らず
Topic Unknown
The sad song of
the cuckoo
When its voice
reaches my ears
I think of my
hometown,
The people of my
past,
And I miss them
deeply.
Author Unknown
147
題知らず
ほととぎす汝が鳴く里のあまたあればなほうとまれぬ思ふのから
よみ人知らず
Topic Unknown
Oh cuckoo,
Your moving song
is heard
In village after
village,
I can hardly bear
it,
I miss you and
think of you always.
Author Unknown
148
題知らず
思ひ出づるときはの山のほととぎす韓紅のふり出でてぞ鳴く
よみ人知らず
Topic Unknown
When I think of
the cuckoo
Of Tokiwa
mountain
How you strain
your crimson tongue,
It makes me cry
with you.
Author Unknown
 |
| Taken in Nagoya |
149
題知らず
声はして涙は見えぬほととぎすわが衣手のひつをからなむ
よみ人知らず
Topic Unknown
Cuckoo, I hear
your sad song,
But I cannot see
your tears.
My sleeves are
soaked through,
Please borrow
them
And share my
grief.
Author Unknown
150
題知らず
あしひきの山ほととぎすをりはへてたれかまさると昔をのみぞ鳴く
よみ人知らず
Topic Unknown
Cuckoos from the
foot wearying mountains!
You never cease
trying
To surpass one
another
With the saddest
song
Soaked with grief
from the past.
Author Unknown
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