Kasuga naru hagai no yama yu saho no uchi e nakiyuku naru wa tare yobukodori

春日なる羽がひの山ゆ佐保の内へ
鳴き行くなるは誰れ呼子鳥

Roma-ji: Kasuga naru hagai no yama yu saho no uchi e nakiyuku naru wa tare yobukodori
English Translation: From Kasuga's hill,
from the mountain of Hagai
into Saho's vale
singing, flying it goes by—
whom do you call, calling bird?
Meaning: Singing as it flies from Mount Hagai in Kasuga toward the land of Saho—whom is it calling, that calling bird?
Commentary: Book Ten Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1827

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
This poem sings of a calling bird flying off toward Saho from Mount Hagai in Kasuga, crying as it goes. To a bird whose voice alone is heard, the poet puts the question of whom it is calling, deepening the charm by playing on the name "calling bird." It follows 1822 as another poem on the calling bird, and the next poem also sings of it, so the two form a pair.

The first line, "kasuga naru," means in Kasuga, the district spreading east of the Nara capital.
In the second line, "from Mount Hagai," the mountain is thought to be part of the Kasuga hills, and "yu" is a particle marking the point of departure.
The third line, "into Saho," is hypermetric. Saho lay northeast of the Heijō capital and marks where the bird is headed.
In the fourth line, "nakiyuku naru wa," "naru" is the attributive form of the auxiliary "nari" of hearsay and inference, showing that the bird's passage is known only by its voice, unseen.
The last line, "whom does it call, calling bird," is phrased as a question that plays on "call" in the bird's name. The calling bird continues into the next poem, 1828.
Source: Manyoshu
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