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- hototogisu 郭公 / ほととぎす -
This is one of the classical season words, used in the poetry of the Heian period.
Basho sometimes uses the word and adds a new twist, closer to the normal life of the normal people of his Edo.
hototogisu can be written with many Chinese characters:
ほととぎす【時鳥／子規／杜鵑／不如帰／郭公】
Basho uses the Chinese characters 郭公, which was common during the Heian period.
But now is often pronounced kakkoo, Japanese cuckoo, which is a different bird, Cuculus canorus.
. WKD : hototogisu ホトトギス, 時鳥 .
Little Cuckoo, Cuculus poliocephalis
Sometimes, even the bush warbler (uguisu 鶯) and the little cuckoo (hototogisu) get mixed up.
under construction
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曙はまだ紫にほととぎす
akebono wa / mada murasaki ni / hototogisu
冬牡丹千鳥よ雪のほととぎす
fuyu botan / chidori yo yuki no / hototogisu
ほととぎす今は俳諧師なき世哉
. hototogisu ima wa haikaishi naki yo kana .
(summer) little cuckoo. now a world without haikai masters
時鳥鰹を染めにけりけらし
. hototogisu katsuo o some ni keri kerashi .
(summer) little cuckoo. skipjack sashimi
ほととぎす消え行く方や島一つ
. hototogisu kieyuku kata ya shima hitotsu .
(summer) little cuckoo. it disappears. a single island
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郭公声横たふや水の上
hototogisu koe yokotau ya mizu no ue
cuckoo:
its call stretching out
across the water
Tr. Barnhill
sound of a cuckoo
whose cry now is stretching out
across the water
Tr. Chilcott
hototogisu––
the shriek lies stretched
across the water
Tr. Ueda
The cut marker YA is at the end of line 2.
Written in summer 1693 元禄六年四月二十九日.
Basho had gotten the news that his nephew and adopted son Toin had died. Basho was very shocked and vowed not to write about the hototogisu any more. His friends Sunpu and Sora tried to help him overcome his sorrow
愁情なぐさめばやと、杉風、曽良、水辺之ほとゝぎすとて、更ニすゝむるにまかせて
Basho also wrote
一声の江に横たふやほとゝぎす
hito-koe no e ni yokotau ya hototogisu
a single call
comes across the inlet -
hototogisu
Tr. Gabi Greve
Basho was referring to a poem by Su Dongpo, Su Dungpo 蘇東坡 (So Toba そ とうば)
白露江ニ横タハリ / 白露江に横たはる
“The gleaming water extends to heaven,
and the white mist lies stretched across the water.”
“White mist lay across the water;
the light from the water reached the sky. .”
source : afe.easia.columbia.edu/song
quote
..... which strongly suggests that the lingering sound of the hototogisu echoes the vanishing spirit of the dead youth.
Shirane, Traces of Dreams
. Matsuo Basho - His nephew Tooin 桃印 Toin, To-In - .
(?1661 - 1693)
doobutsu no koe 動物の声 - a difficult expression to translate:
The voices of animals used by Basho -
. Matsuo Basho 松尾芭蕉 - Archives of the WKD .
- Japanese Reference -
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郭公招くか麦のむら尾花
hototogisu / maneku ka mugi no / mura obana
時鳥正月は梅の花咲けり
hototogisu / matsuki wa ume no / hana sakeri
ほととぎす鳴く鳴く飛ぶぞ忙はし
hototogisu / naku naku tobu zo / isogawashi
so busy!
杜鵑鳴く音や古き硯箱
. hototogisu naku ne ya furuki suzuri-bako / suzuribako .
(summer) little cuckoo. old inkstone box
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ほととぎす鳴くや五尺の菖草
hototogisu naku ya go shaku no ayamegusa
hototogisu
cries –– a blade of iris
five feet tall
Tr. Ueda
the Hototogisu
is calling - some iris
of five Shaku hight
Tr. Gabi Greve
This hokku is a version of a poem from the Kokin Shu 古今集 collection, by an unknown author.
ほととぎす鳴くや五月のあやめぐさ あやめも知らぬ恋もするかな
hototogisu naku ya gogatsu no ayamegusa ayame mo shiranu koi mo suru kana
Basho has only changed the gogatsu to goshaku.
.......................................................................
ほととぎす大竹薮を漏る月夜
. hototogisu ootakeyabu o moru tsukiyo .
(summer) little cuckoo. bamboo, moon night
ほととぎす裏見の滝の裏表
. hototogisu Urami no Taki no ura omote .
(summer) little cuckoo. Urami no Taki waterfall (Nikko). back and front
烏賊売の声まぎらはし杜宇
. ika uri no koe magirawashi hototogisu .
(summer) squid vendor. hardly distinguishable. hototogisu. his voice
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source : itoyo/basho
清く聞かん耳に香焼いて郭公
kiyoku kikan mimi ni koo taite hototogisu
the clear sound
of burning incense near the ear
hototogisu
天和3年, Basho age 40
koo o kiku, to "listen to incense" had become fashionable in the Genroku period.
The Way of Incense 香道
As in the analogous tea ceremony, various instruments (many of them made of gold or silver) were called for. Diverse formalities were developed and a proper name for the activity was created: kodo.
Eventually even the act of smelling became too common.
Instead one "listened" to incense. (koo o kiku 香を聞く)
. WKD : Incense, O-Koo お香 .
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木隠れて茶摘みも聞くやほととぎす
. kogakurete chatsumi mo kiku ya hototogisu .
(spring) picking tea leaves. to hear. hototogisu
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京にても京なつかしやほととぎす
. Kyoo ni te mo Kyoo natsukashi ya hototogisu .
Kyoo nite mo
(summer) little cuckoo, longing for Kyoto
待たぬのに菜売りに来たか時鳥
matanu no ni / na uri ni kita ka / hototogisu
vendor of leaves for food
野を横に馬牽きむけよほととぎす
. no o yoko ni uma hikimuke yo hototogisu .
(summer) little cuckoo, horse
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落ち来るや高久の宿の郭公
ochikuru ya Takaku no shuku no hototogisu
falling from high above -
at a Takaku lodging,
cuckoo
Tr. Barnhill
Oku no Hosomichi, Station 6 - Nasu 那須
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しばし間も待つやほととぎす千年
shibashi ma mo matsu ya hototogi su sennen
shibashi ma mo matsu ya hototogisu sennen
I wait only for a short while
for the hototogisu - it feels
like some thousand years
This is an allusion to the Chinese poet Li Po (701-762)
白髪三千丈
My white hair is three thousand joo 丈 long.
The waterfall falls down three thousand feet.
(One 丈 is about 3 meters).
Written in 1666 寛文7年, Basho age 24.
This poem has a particular meter, with the cut marker YA in the middle of line 2 and the structure 5 8 4, if HOTOTOGISU is seen as one word.
matsu, to wait, is also a pun with the auspicious 1000 year old pine, sennen no matsu 千年の松.
quite a few places, temples and shrines, have such a long-living pine.
hototogi susennen, ほととぎ 数千年 the bird - a few thousand years suu sennenn 数千年.
Basho is still experimenting with the hokku form.
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須磨の海士の矢先に鳴くか郭公
. Suma no ama yasaki ni naku ka hototogisu .
(summer) little cuckoo. fisherman as Suma
田や麦や中にも夏のほととぎす
. ta ya mugi ya naka ni mo natsu no hototogisu .
(summer) hototogisu in summer. fields. barley.
橘やいつの野中の郭公
tachibana ya / itsu no nonaka no / hototogisu
戸の口に宿札名乗れほととぎす
. to no kuchi ni yadofuda nanore hototogisu .
at the front entrance, hand out your visitor sign (yado fuda 宿札)
鳥刺も竿や捨てけんほととぎす
torisashi mo / kasa ya suteken / hototogisu
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. WKD : hototogisu ホトトギス, 時鳥 .
Little Cuckoo, Cuculus poliocephalis
. Cultural Keywords used by Basho .
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