Haru no no ni naku ya uguisu natsukemu to wagae no sono ni ume ga hana saku

春の野に鳴くや鴬なつけむと
我が家の園に梅が花咲く

Roma-ji: Haru no no ni naku ya uguisu natsukemu to wagae no sono ni ume ga hana saku
English Translation: Out on the spring fields
the warbler sings, and to tame it,
coaxing it to stay,
in the garden of my house
the blossoms of plum open
Meaning: To win over the warbler that sings in the spring fields, the plum blossoms are blooming in my garden.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 837

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirty-two poems on plum blossoms, with preface"
The poet says the plum in his garden blooms to tame the warbler singing in the spring fields. With the witty conceit that the plum blooms in order to lure the warbler, he delights in the pairing of plum and warbler.
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 "Accountant Shi-shi Ōmichi"; the accountant handled calculations at Dazaifu.
The poet, Shishi no Ōmichi, was an official serving as accountant at Dazaifu. Some take "Shi-shi" to be the Shiki clan.

First line, "haru no no ni": the wide fields beyond the garden where the plum blooms.
Second line, "naku ya uguisu": "ya" is an interjectory particle; the warbler singing in the fields.
Third line, "natsukemu to": "in order to tame it," ascribing an intention to the plum.
Fourth line, "wagae no sono ni": within the garden, contrasting with the fields of the first line, outside and inside.
Fifth line, "ume ga hana saku": the plum's blooming comes last, completing the conceit that it blooms to lure the warbler.
Author: Shishi no Ōmichi
Source: Manyoshu
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