Hototogisu omowazu ariki konokure no kaku naru made ni nani ka kinakanu

霍公鳥思はずありき木の暗の
かくなるまでに何か来鳴かぬ

Roma-ji: Hototogisu omowazu ariki konokure no kaku naru made ni nani ka kinakanu
English Translation: O cuckoo, you bird,
I never dreamed it would be so:
now the trees grow dark,
now they have become like this,
why do you not come and sing?
Meaning: O cuckoo, I never thought it would be so: why have you not come to sing, even now that the trees have grown dark with leaves?
Commentary: Book Eight Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1487

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems by Ōtomo no Yakamochi resenting the cuckoo's late singing"
Even now that the trees are thick with leaves and their shade has grown dark, the cuckoo has not come to sing, and the poet reproaches it, saying he never expected this. Continuing from the preceding poem, it voices impatience with the cuckoo's late arrival.
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 an address to the cuckoo.
The second line, with the past "ki," states flatly that he never thought it would be so, and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "konokure," means the dark shade under thick trees, showing that summer has deepened.
The fourth line means "until it has come to this."
The final line forms a kakari-musubi between "ka" and "nu," the attributive of the negative "zu," pressing the question: why do you not come? The next poem rejoices at the cuckoo that has finally sung, so the sequence turns from resentment to joy.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Waga yado no hanatachibana o hototogisu kinakazu tsuchi ni chirashitemu to ka
Next Poem: Izuku ni wa naki mo shinikemu hototogisu wagie no sato ni kyō nomi zo naku