Poem Meaning and Background
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| 「ほととぎす」"Hototogisu", a print by Utagawa Hiroshige |
ほととぎす・鳴きつる方を・ながむれば
hototogisu・nakitsuru kata o・nagamureba
ただ有明の・月ぞ残れる
tada ariake no・tsuki zo nokoreru
〜後徳大寺左大臣（Go Tokudaiji no Sadaijin）
Translation
When I turned my look
Toward the place where I had heard
The cuckoo's call,
The only thing I found
Was the moon of early dawn.
Meaning
The bird referenced in this poem, Hototogisu, or "lesser cuckoo", has long been a familiar symbol of summer in Japanese culture. Nobles of this time period apparently had an interesting pastime surrounding this bird; they would apparently stay up all night to try to be the first one to hear the first hototogisu call of the year. The author of "The Pillow Book", Sei Shonagon ([62] Yoo) mentions this pastime in one of her essays, and the author of this poem, Sanesada, apparently also indulged in this leisurely activity. Upon hearing the hototogisu's call, he looks out for its source, but all he can see is the moon hanging in the sky even though dawn has started to break.
ほととぎす is a migratory bird and only is around during the summer months in Japan. As such, it is often used as a symbol of summer in Japanese poetry. It is also quite a fast flier, so it can be difficult to catch a glimpse of this bird. ただ in the second half of this poem means "only", so it implies that the author only saw the moon, and was not able to spot the bird itself.
Author
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| Depiction of Sanesada by Katsukawa Shunsho |
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