Ashihiki no yamahototogisu waga goto ya kimi ni koitsutsu inegate ni suru - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あしひきの山郭公わがごとや
君に恋ひつつ寝ねがてにする

Roma-ji: Ashihiki no yamahototogisu waga goto ya kimi ni koitsutsu inegate ni suru
English Translation: In the foot-weary hills
O mountain cuckoo, are you
like me, I wonder
longing for the one you love
unable to find your sleep
Meaning: O cuckoo of the mountains, are you like me, longing for someone and unable to sleep, as you call through the night?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 499

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem addresses the mountain cuckoo calling late into the night, overlaying it with the poet's own sleeplessness from longing. It likens the cuckoo that sings even at night to one unable to sleep for love, projecting the poet's heart onto a natural image. Following the warbler of the preceding poem, it again sings of a bird's voice, and it echoes the cuckoo of the book's opening poem.

First line, "In the foot-weary hills": ashihiki no is a pillow word for mountains.
Second line, "O mountain cuckoo, are you": yamahototogisu is the cuckoo of the hills. It shares the bird's name with the first line of poem 469 at the head of the book; the bird that announced love's beginning there is here a companion in sleepless love.
Third line, "like me, I wonder": waga goto ya means "like me?" The particle ya is interrogative and forms a kakari-musubi with the attributive suru at the end.
Fourth line, "longing for the one you love": kimi ni koitsutsu means while longing for someone.
Fifth line, "unable to find your sleep": ine means sleeping and gate ni means being unable to, giving "are you unable to sleep?"
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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