Matsu no ki ni
Shimikomu gotoshi
Sémi no koë.
Into the wood of the pine-tree
Seems to soak
The voice of the sémi.
A very large number of Japanese poems about sémi describe the noise of the creatures as an affliction. To fully sympathize with the complaints of the poets, one must have heard certain varieties of Japanese cicadæ in full midsummer chorus; but even by readers without experience of the clamor, the following verses will probably be found suggestive:—
Waré hitori
Atsui yō nari,—
Sémi no koë!
—Bunsō.
Meseems that only I,—I alone among mortals,—
Ever suffered such heat!—oh, the noise of the sémi!
Ushiro kara
Tsukamu yō nari,—
Sémi no koë.
—Jofū.
Oh, the noise of the sémi!—a pain of invisible seizure,—
Clutched in an enemy's grasp,—caught by the hair from behind!
Yama no Kami no
Mimi no yamai ka?—
Sémi no koë!
—Teikoku.
What ails the divinity's ears?—how can the God of the Mountain
Suffer such noise to exist?—oh, the tumult of sémi!
Soko no nai
Atsusa ya kumo ni
Sémi no koë!
—Saren.