Fujinami no chiramaku oshimi hototogisu imaki no oka o nakite koyu nari

藤波の散らまく惜しみ霍公鳥
今城の岡を鳴きて越ゆなり

Roma-ji: Fujinami no chiramaku oshimi hototogisu imaki no oka o nakite koyu nari
English Translation: The wisteria's
falling would be sad, it feels—
the hototogisu
over the hill of Imaki
singing as it crosses on.
Meaning: Grieving that the wisteria must scatter, the hototogisu seems to cross over the hill of Imaki, singing as it goes.
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1944

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
This poem sings of the hototogisu crossing over the hill of Imaki, singing as if grieving that the wisteria must fall. It finds in the bird's song a heart that mourns the flowers, catching the scene from late spring to early summer with rich feeling. In 1957 too we find "the hototogisu grieving that the deutzia must fall," so the motif of the bird singing in grief for flowers recurs within the group.

The first line, "fujinami no," describes wisteria clusters swaying like waves.
In the second line, "chiramaku oshimi," "maku" is the nominalized "mu" and "oshimi" means because it grieves.
The third line, "hototogisu," is the subject, personified as a bird that grieves for flowers.
In the fourth line, "the hill of Imaki," Imaki is thought by some to be Imaki in Ōyodo, Yoshino.
In the last line, "nakite koyu nari," "nari" is an auxiliary of hearsay and inference, showing that the bird's passage is known by its voice.
Source: Manyoshu
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