Haru no no ni asaru kigishi no tsumagoi ni onoga atari o hito ni shiretsutsu

春の野にあさる雉の妻恋ひに
おのがあたりを人に知れつつ

Roma-ji: Haru no no ni asaru kigishi no tsumagoi ni onoga atari o hito ni shiretsutsu
English Translation: In the fields of spring
foraging, the pheasant cries,
longing for its mate,
and so where it is hiding
it keeps showing to the world
Meaning: The pheasant foraging in the spring fields, crying out in longing for its mate, keeps giving away to people where it is.
Commentary: Book Eight Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1446

Headnote: "A poem on the spring pheasant by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
A pheasant foraging in the spring fields cries out for its mate and thereby gives away its hiding place. In the pheasant that cannot conceal itself because of love, the poet sees the human truth that love is always found out.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was a son of Ōtomo no Tabito and an official of the Nara period. He rose to the post of Middle Counselor, is thought to have been closely involved in compiling the Man'yōshū, and left more poems than anyone else in the anthology.

The first line is the same as that of 1424 in this book, and poems set in the spring fields recur through the book.
The second line names the pheasant searching for food.
The third line means "because it longs for its mate," giving the reason for its cries. In 1561 of this book the voice of a deer calling its mate is sung, so the spring pheasant and the autumn deer correspond in their cries of longing.
The fourth line means "the place where it is."
The final line means "letting people know," and by ending on the continuative "tsutsu," it leaves the image of the pheasant crying on and on.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Kaze majiri yuki wa furu tomo mi ni naranu wagie no ume o hana ni chirasu na
Next Poem: Yo no tsune ni kikeba kurushiki yobukodori koe natsukashiki toki ni wa narinu