Tsukuyo yomi naku hototogisu mimaku hori ware kusa toreri mimu hito mo ga mo

月夜よみ鳴く霍公鳥見まく欲り
我れ草取れり見む人もがも

Roma-ji: Tsukuyo yomi naku hototogisu mimaku hori ware kusa toreri mimu hito mo ga mo
English Translation: The moonlit night fair,
hototogisu singing—
longing to see it,
I have cleared away the grass;
if only one would see it too!
Meaning: Because the moonlit night is so fine, I have cleared away the grass, longing to see the hototogisu as it sings. If only there were someone to watch it with me.
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1943

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
This poem tells how the speaker cleared away grass to get a good view of the hototogisu singing on a beautiful moonlit night, only to regret having no one to watch with. It reveals both a refined heart that takes trouble to see the bird and a heart that seeks someone to share it with. It has the same last line as 1866 in the spring section, "mimu hito mo ga mo," so the wish for someone to share a beautiful scene recurs across the seasons.

The first line, "tsukuyo yomi," because the moonlit night is fine, uses the suffix "mi" to express cause.
The second line, "the singing hototogisu," names the bird.
The third line, "mimaku hori," longing to see, uses "mimaku," the nominalized form of "mimu."
The fourth line, "ware kusa toreri," I have cut the grass, uses "ri" for a resulting state, and the poem breaks here.
In the last line, "mimu hito mo ga mo," "mo ga mo" is a particle of wishing; it is the same ending as 1866.
Source: Manyoshu
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