Hototogisu itaku na nakiso na ga koe o satsuki no tama ni aenuku made ni

霍公鳥いたくな鳴きそ汝が声を
五月の玉にあへ貫くまでに

Roma-ji: Hototogisu itaku na nakiso na ga koe o satsuki no tama ni aenuku made ni
English Translation: O cuckoo, you bird,
do not sing so piercingly:
until your voice
with the jewels of the fifth month
I can thread upon a string
Meaning: O cuckoo, do not sing so much, not until I can thread your voice together with the fifth-month balls of herbs.
Commentary: Book Eight Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1465

Headnote: "A poem by Lady Fujiwara [consort of the emperor who ruled the realm from the Kiyomihara Palace in Asuka; her familiar name was Ōhara no Ōtoji; she was the mother of Prince Niitabe]"
The poet calls on the cuckoo not to spend its voice now, but to save it until she can thread it together with the herbal balls of the fifth month. The beautiful and daring idea of stringing a bird's formless voice on a cord with flowers and fragrant herbs is striking. The poem stands at the head of the summer miscellaneous poems.
The author, Fujiwara no Ioe no Iratsume, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Kamatari. She became a consort of Emperor Tenmu and bore Prince Niitabe, and, as the note in the headnote says, was also called Ōhara no Ōtoji.

The first line is an address to the cuckoo, set at the start of the summer miscellaneous poems as the bird that announces summer.
The second line uses the prohibitive "na ... so," begging it not to cry so much, and the poem pauses here. The same line appears in 1419 and 1484 of this book.
The third line makes the cuckoo's very voice the thing to be strung as a bead.
The fourth line names the herbal balls made for the festival of the fifth day of the fifth month. Threading beads is also sung in 1478, 1490, and 1502 of this book, among others, and is an important subject of the summer poems.
The final line means "until I thread them together," expressing her eagerness for the fifth-month festival.
Author: Fujiwara no Ioe no Iratsume
Source: Manyoshu
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