Kubeki hodo toki suginure ya machiwabite naku naru koe no hito o toyomuru - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

来べきほどときすぎぬれや待ちわびて
鳴くなる声の人をとよむる

Roma-ji: Kubeki hodo toki suginure ya machiwabite naku naru koe no hito o toyomuru
English Translation: The time it should come
has passed perhaps—and so,
weary of waiting,
the voice I hear it crying
sets all the people astir.
Meaning: Perhaps because the time when it ought to have come has already passed, the cuckoo's voice, crying as though it could wait no longer, stirs everyone who hears it.
Commentary: Book Ten Names of Things 423

Headnote: "Cuckoo"
This poem says that, perhaps because the proper time has passed, the voice crying as if weary of waiting sets people astir. The title "hototogisu" (cuckoo) is hidden in "hodo toki sugi" in the second line, while the awaited bird's own voice is the subject of the poem. Following the warbler of the preceding poem, it takes a summer bird as its title, so the book opens with two poems named after birds.
The poet, "Fujiwara no Toshiyuki no Ason," is Fujiwara no Toshiyuki. A son of Fujiwara no Fujimaro, he rose to Captain of the Right Military Guards. He is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets and was also famed as a calligrapher.

First line "Kubeki hodo" means "the time when the cuckoo should come," with "beshi" expressing what is expected.
Second line "toki suginure ya" adds the particle "ya" to the perfective form, wondering whether the time has passed. The title "hototogisu" is hidden in "hodo toki sugi," running on from the first line.
Third line "machiwabite" means "weary of waiting," showing that the cry comes after long yearning.
Fourth line "naku naru koe no" uses the auxiliary "naru," which infers from sound, so the bird is heard but not seen.
Fifth line "hito o toyomuru" uses "toyomu," meaning to make resound or to stir up. It closes in the attributive form "toyomuru" in answer to "ya" in the second line.
Author: Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kokoro kara hana no shizuku ni sobochitsutsu ukuhizu to nomi tori no naku ramu
Next Poem: Nami no utsu se mireba tama zo midarekeru hirowaba sode ni hakanakaramu ya