Izuku ni wa naki mo shinikemu hototogisu wagie no sato ni kyō nomi zo naku

いづくには鳴きもしにけむ霍公鳥
我家の里に今日のみぞ鳴く

Roma-ji: Izuku ni wa naki mo shinikemu hototogisu wagie no sato ni kyō nomi zo naku
English Translation: Somewhere else, perhaps,
it must have sung already,
the cuckoo, you bird,
but in the village of my home
only today it sings
Meaning: Elsewhere it must have sung already, but here in the village of my home the cuckoo sings for the very first time today.
Commentary: Book Eight Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1488

Headnote: "A poem by Ōtomo no Yakamochi rejoicing in the cuckoo"
Elsewhere the cuckoo must already have sung, but in the poet's village it has finally sung today, and he rejoices. Following the two preceding poems resenting the cuckoo's late arrival, it expresses the joy of hearing at last the long-awaited first song.
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, "somewhere else," sets other places against his own village.
The second line, with the past conjectural "kemu," surmises that it must have sung already, and the poem pauses here.
The third line names the awaited bird.
The fourth line, "in the village of my home," pairs with "somewhere else" of the first line.
The final line forms a kakari-musubi between "zo" and the attributive "naku," stressing that it sings for the first time today and expressing his joy.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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