Haru sareba konure gakurite uguisu zo nakite inu naru ume ga shizue ni

春されば木末隠りて鴬ぞ
鳴きて去ぬなる梅が下枝に

Roma-ji: Haru sareba konure gakurite uguisu zo nakite inu naru ume ga shizue ni
English Translation: When the spring comes round,
hidden in the topmost twigs,
the warbler, it seems,
sings as it goes flitting off
to the lower boughs of plum
Meaning: When spring comes, the warbler hidden in the treetops seems to sing as it flits away down to the lower branches of the plum.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 827

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirty-two poems on plum blossoms, with preface"
The poet senses that, with spring, the warbler hidden in the treetops is moving down, singing, to the plum's lower branches. Catching the bird's movement by its voice rather than its form, he conveys through sound the presence of spring gathering around the plum.
This is one of the thirty-two poems of the Plum Blossom Banquet, held on the thirteenth day of the first month of Tenpyō 2, when officials of Dazaifu and provincial governors of Kyushu gathered at the residence of the Governor-General Ōtomo no Tabito and composed poems on the plum trees in his garden. The Chinese preface describes how, in the auspicious first month of early spring, the air was fine and the breeze gentle, the plums opened white like face powder before a mirror, and the orchids gave off a scent like a perfume sachet; it is also famous as the source of the era name Reiwa. The preface closes by proposing that, just as Chinese poetry has its pieces on falling plum blossoms, the company should compose short poems on the garden plums. The poem is signed "Junior Clerk Yama-shi Wakamaro."
The poet, Yamaguchi no Wakamaro, was an official serving as Junior Clerk of Dazaifu. Reading "Yama-shi" as the Yamaguchi clan follows the prevailing view.

First line, "haru sareba": "when spring comes," marking the season's arrival.
Second line, "konure gakurite": "konure" is the tips of branches, where the unseen warbler hides.
Third line, "uguisu zo": the particle "zo" is resolved by "naru" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "nakite inu naru": "naru" infers from sound: by its song, the warbler seems to be moving off. The poem breaks here, in inversion with the last line.
Fifth line, "ume ga shizue ni": "shizue" are lower branches; by naming the bird's destination last, the inversion brings the plum into focus.
Author: Yamaguchi no Wakamaro
Source: Manyoshu
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