Unohana mo imada sakaneba hototogisu saho no yamabe ni kinaki toyomosu

卯の花もいまだ咲かねば霍公鳥
佐保の山辺に来鳴き響もす

Roma-ji: Unohana mo imada sakaneba hototogisu saho no yamabe ni kinaki toyomosu
English Translation: Though the deutzia
has not yet begun to bloom,
the cuckoo, you bird,
to the hillsides of Saho
has come and fills them with song
Meaning: Though the deutzia has not yet bloomed, the cuckoo has come to the hills of Saho, filling them with its song.
Commentary: Book Eight Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1477

Headnote: "A poem on the cuckoo by Ōtomo no Yakamochi"
At a time when the deutzia has not yet bloomed, the cuckoo has already come to the hills of Saho and is singing. Since the cuckoo and deutzia were thought to arrive together, the poem expresses surprise and delight that the bird has come ahead of the flower.
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 names the deutzia, which bears white flowers in early summer.
In the second line, "neba" has the concessive sense of "though not yet," the same usage as "imada sugineba" in 1434 of this book.
The third line names the bird that has arrived before the deutzia.
The fourth line names the hills of Saho in Nara, where the Ōtomo clan had its residence.
The final line means "comes and fills the air with song." 1472 of this book sings of the cuckoo and deutzia arriving together, "comes and fills the air with song: did you come as a companion of the deutzia?" and this poem paints the contrasting scene of the bird coming alone before the flower has bloomed.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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