Daita ki wa,
Ha mo ugokasazu,
Semi no koe!—Kafū.
Somewhere fast to the bark he clung; but I cannot see him:
He stirs not even a leaf—oh! the noise of that semi.
Tonari kara
Kono ki nikumu ya!
Semi no koe.—Gyukaku.
All because of the semi that sit and shrill on its branches—
Oh! how this tree of mine is hated now by my neighbor!
This reminds one of Yayū. We find another poet compassionating a tree frequented by semi:—
Kaze wa mina
Semi ni suwarete,
Hito-ki kana!—Chōsui.
Alas! poor solitary tree!—pitiful now your lot,—every breath of air having been sucked up by the semi~
Sometimes the noise of the semi is described as a moving force:—
Semi no koe
Ki-gi ni ugoite,
Kaze mo nashi!—Sōyō.
Every tree in the wood quivers with clamor of semi:
Motion only of noise—never a breath of wind!
註
