Hototogisu mine no kumo ni ya majirinishi ari to wa kikedo miru yoshi mo naki - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ほととぎす峰の雲にやまじりにし
ありとは聞けど見るよしもなき

Roma-ji: Hototogisu mine no kumo ni ya majirinishi ari to wa kikedo miru yoshi mo naki
English Translation: The cuckoo, has it
into the clouds upon the peaks
vanished and blended?
I hear that it is there, and yet
there is no way to see it.
Meaning: Has the cuckoo slipped away into the clouds on the peaks? I hear that it is there, yet there is no way for me to see it.
Commentary: Book Ten Names of Things 447

Headnote: "Yamashi"
This poem wonders whether the cuckoo has blended into the clouds on the peaks, for its voice tells that it is there, yet there is no means to see it. The title "yamashi" is hidden in "ya maji" across the second and third lines. Yamashi is thought to be the name of a plant, but what it refers to is unclear. Singing of a cuckoo heard but not seen, it echoes 423 in this book, where the cuckoo's cry stirs people.
The poet, "Taira no Atsuyuki," is Taira no Atsuyuki. He was an official of the early Heian period, and the details of his career are not known.

First line "Hototogisu" is the bird that heralds summer, stating the subject at the outset.
Second line "mine no kumo ni ya" uses the interrogative particle "ya," meaning "into the clouds on the peaks?" The title begins with "ya."
Third line "majirinishi" means "has blended in," with "nishi" combining the perfective and the past. With the second line, "ya maji" hides the title "yamashi," and it closes in the attributive "shi" in answer to "ya." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line "ari to wa kikedo" means "though I hear that it is there."
Fifth line "miru yoshi mo naki" means "there is no way to see it," ending in the attributive form to leave a lingering note.
Author: Taira no Atsuyuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Yama takami tsune ni arashi no fuku sato wa nioi mo aezu hana zo chirikeru
Next Poem: Utsusemi no kara wa kigoto ni todomuredo tama no yukue o minu zo kanashiki