Haru sareba oori ni oori uguisu no naku waga shima zo yamazu kayowase

春さればををりにををり鴬の
鳴く我が山斎ぞやまず通はせ

Roma-ji: Haru sareba oori ni oori uguisu no naku waga shima zo yamazu kayowase
English Translation: When the spring arrives,
the boughs bend low, bend with bloom,
and the warbler sings—
such is this garden of mine;
come here, ever and again
Meaning: When spring comes, the branches bend low, heavy with blossoms, and the warbler sings: such is my garden. Come to visit me, again and again, without fail.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 1012

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the twelfth day of the twelfth month of winter, the princes and courtiers of the Office of Song and Dance gathered at the house of Fujii no Muraji Hironari for a banquet; two poems. Of late the ancient dances have flourished, and the old year is drawing to its close. It is fitting that we should together exhaust our feeling for the old and sing the old songs as one. Therefore, following this spirit, we offer two old melodies. If there are among this gathering any gentlemen of refinement and spirit, let them vie in expressing their thoughts and each in his own way respond in the ancient style"
This poem invites the guest to keep coming, because it is the poet's garden, where in spring the branches bend low with thick blossoms and the warbler sings. Proudly displaying the beauty of a spring garden complete with flowers and warbler, it calls on the guest to visit again and again.
According to the headnote, this poem comes from a banquet held on the twelfth day of the twelfth month of Tenpyō 8 (736), when the princes and courtiers of the Office of Song and Dance, which oversaw the court's songs and dances, gathered at the house of Fujii no Hironari. The preface records that, since the old dances had lately flourished and the year was coming to an end, the company offered "two old melodies" so that all might exhaust their feeling for the old and sing old songs, and called on the refined guests to respond with poems in the ancient style.
The author is not named; some take the poem to be by Fujii no Hironari, the host of the banquet, while others regard it as an old song sung by those gathered, and the question remains unsettled. Fujii no Hironari was an official of the Nara period, also known as a man of letters.

Where the preceding poem, 1011, hesitated even to announce that the plum had bloomed, this poem invites frankly with "come here, ever and again," forming a pair of restraint and invitation. Against the plum of the preceding poem, this one sings of the warbler, and the two answer each other in their spring imagery as well.
The first line, "When the spring arrives," means "when spring comes." "Saru" means for a season or time to come round, and "ba" expresses a definite condition.
The second line, "the boughs bend low, bend with bloom," means that the flowers grow so thick that the branches bend. "Ooru" means for blossoms or leaves to grow so thick that the branches bow, and repeating the same word stresses the abundance of the full bloom.
The third line, "and the warbler sings," gives the subject of "sings" that follows, adding the warbler's voice to the garden in full bloom.
The fourth line, "such is this garden of mine," means "it is my garden where the warbler sings." "Shima" refers to a garden laid out with a pond and artificial hills, and "zo" makes a strong declaration. The sense breaks here, after the fourth line.
The final line, "come here, ever and again," means "please come continually." "Yamazu" means without ceasing, and "kayowase" is the imperative of "kayou" with the honorific "su"; the poem closes with a warm invitation to the guest.
Source: Manyoshu
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