Asagasumi tanabiku nobe ni ashihiki no yamahototogisu itsu ka kinakamu

朝霞たなびく野辺にあしひきの
山霍公鳥いつか来鳴かむ

Roma-ji: Asagasumi tanabiku nobe ni ashihiki no yamahototogisu itsu ka kinakamu
English Translation: Haze of the morning
trails across the open fields;
on the rugged hills
mountain hototogisu,
when will you come here and sing?
Meaning: Over the fields where the morning haze trails, when will the mountain hototogisu come and sing?
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1940

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
In fields where morning haze trails, this poem waits eagerly to know when the mountain hototogisu will come down to the village and sing. The heart awaiting the voice of the bird that announces summer is plainly expressed. Overlaying the morning haze, a lingering scene of spring, with waiting for the summer bird, it captures the turning of the seasons.

The first line, "morning haze," names the haze that rises in the morning.
The second line, "in the fields where it trails," sets the scene.
The third line, "ashihiki no," is a pillow word for "mountain."
The fourth line, "the mountain hototogisu," refers to the bird still in the mountains before coming to the village.
In the last line, "itsu ka kinakamu," "ka" is an interrogative particle in kakari-musubi with the attributive "mu," closing with a waiting heart.
Source: Manyoshu
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