Tabi ni shite tsumagoi surashi hototogisu kamunabiyama ni sayo fukete naku

旅にして妻恋すらし霍公鳥
神なび山にさ夜更けて鳴く

Roma-ji: Tabi ni shite tsumagoi surashi hototogisu kamunabiyama ni sayo fukete naku
English Translation: Far away on a journey,
it seems to long for its mate—
the hototogisu
on the god-dwelling mountain
sings as the night deepens.
Meaning: On a journey, it seems, longing for its mate—the hototogisu sings on the sacred mountain as the night grows late.
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1938

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds: Envoy"
This poem hears the voice of a hototogisu singing late at night on the sacred mountain as the cry of one longing for a mate while traveling, and it is attached as the envoy to the preceding long poem. Under the headnote "On Birds" it stands near the head of the Summer Miscellaneous Poems, and the left note says it comes from an Old Poetry Collection. The poet's own longing for a wife while on a journey is thought to be overlaid on the bird's voice. Whereas the bird group of the spring poems centered on the bush warbler, the summer bird group centers on the hototogisu, so the bird of the season has changed.

The first line, "on a journey," treats the hototogisu as a bird in the midst of travel.
In the second line, "tsumagoi surashi," "rashi" marks grounded inference, and the poem breaks here; from its cry the poet infers its longing for a mate.
The third line, "hototogisu," names the representative bird of summer, the center of the summer bird group.
In the fourth line, "on Kamunabi Mountain," the name means a mountain where a god dwells, thought to refer to places such as Ikazuchi Hill in Asuka.
In the last line, "sayo fukete naku," "sa" is a prefix; the voice ringing in the depth of night impresses the ache of longing for a mate.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Aiomowazu aruramu ko yue tama no o no nagaki haruhi o omoikurasaku
Next Poem: Hototogisu na ga hatsukoe wa ware ni mo ga satsuki no tama ni majiete nukamu