Hyakunin Isshu Oracle

No.81 後徳大寺左大臣(徳大寺実定)「ほととぎす 鳴きつる方を 眺むれば ただ有明の 月ぞ残れる」

ほととぎす 鳴きつる方を 眺むれば ただ有明の 月ぞ残れる

後徳大寺左大臣(徳大寺実定)

I turned toward the call — only the dawn moon left

I turned toward the call — only the dawn moon left

キーワードKeywords

CuckooGone Before SeenDawn MoonEmpty SkyOne Note
Nature/Seasons Summer

後徳大寺左大臣(徳大寺実定)Tokudaiji Sanesada — No. 81 公卿Court Noble

A Minister of the Left known for his refinement, author of the poem on the vanished cuckoo.

ほととぎす なきつるかたを ながむれば ただありあけの つきぞのこれる

Hototogisu Nakitsuru kata o Nagamureba Tada ariake no Tsuki zo nokoreru

現代語訳Modern Japanese

コンセプトConcept

情景The Scene

One call, close by, at first light. He turns toward it: nothing there. Just the pale leftover moon in an otherwise empty sky. The bird has already crossed to somewhere else.

日本の美意識Japanese Aesthetic

Yohaku (Deliberate Void)

The subject exits before the poem looks at it, leaving background as the only content. A sound whose source has already gone is the cleanest way to render absence.