Hototogisu na ga hatsukoe wa ware ni mo ga satsuki no tama ni majiete nukamu

霍公鳥汝が初声は我れにもが
五月の玉に交へて貫かむ

Roma-ji: Hototogisu na ga hatsukoe wa ware ni mo ga satsuki no tama ni majiete nukamu
English Translation: Hototogisu,
that first song of yours this year,
would that it were mine!
With the jewels of the fifth month
I would thread it on a string.
Meaning: O hototogisu, if only your first song of the year were mine! I would thread it on a cord together with the jewels of the Fifth Month.
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1939

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
This poem wishes to make the hototogisu's first song its own and thread it on a cord with the herbal balls of the Fifth Month. The idea of stringing a formless voice like a jewel expresses well both the long wait for the first song and the wish to keep it close. Against the background of the custom of making herbal balls for the festival of the fifth day of the Fifth Month, it is a summery poem of wit.

The first line, "hototogisu," is the bird addressed.
The second line, "your first song," means the first call of the year.
In the third line, "ware ni mo ga," "mo ga" is a particle of wishing: if only it were mine. The poem breaks here.
In the fourth line, "satsuki no tama ni," the jewels of the Fifth Month are thought to be the herbal balls made for the festival.
In the last line, "majiete nukamu," "mu" expresses intention, closing with the bold conceit of threading a voice with the jewels.
Source: Manyoshu
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