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Kokinshu #142
Monday, 3 October 2011 06:59 Written on hearing the cuckoo sing while crossing Mount Otowa.
When I was crossing
Mount Otowa this morning,
I heard the cuckoo
that even now is singing
in a treetop far away.
(I need a macro for my working drafts of Tomonori's poems, admonishing me to polish the sounds to the best I possibly can.)
otowayama
kesa koekureba
hototogisu
kozoe harukani
ima zo nakunaru
---L.
When I was crossing
Mount Otowa this morning,
I heard the cuckoo
that even now is singing
in a treetop far away.
—20 September 2011
Original by Ki no Tomonori. The pass over Otowa was just outside of Kyoto on the main road east. Same final line as #140, though here the "hear" is clearly direct experience. Like so many of Tomonori's poems, the sound is polished and lovely, plus the progressions of size from large mountain to smaller tree and time from past to present are neatly balanced.(I need a macro for my working drafts of Tomonori's poems, admonishing me to polish the sounds to the best I possibly can.)
otowayama
kesa koekureba
hototogisu
kozoe harukani
ima zo nakunaru
---L.