Hototogisu hanatachibana no e ni ite naki toyomoseba hana wa chiritsutsu

霍公鳥花橘の枝に居て
鳴き響もせば花は散りつつ

Roma-ji: Hototogisu hanatachibana no e ni ite naki toyomoseba hana wa chiritsutsu
English Translation: Hototogisu
on the flowering orange's
branches perching there,
sings and makes the echoes ring,
and the blossoms keep on falling.
Meaning: The hototogisu perches on a branch of the flowering tachibana, and as it fills the air with its ringing song, the blossoms keep falling.
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1950

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
This poem sings of blossoms falling one after another as the hototogisu, perched on a branch of flowering tachibana, fills the air with its song. The hototogisu and the flowering tachibana are a classic pairing of summer emblems, and the bird's voice and the falling blossoms melt into a single scene. Whereas 1873 in the spring section sang of the warbler scattering the plum blossoms, this poem sings of the summer hototogisu scattering tachibana blossoms, a correspondence across seasons.

The first line, "hototogisu," is the subject.
The second line, "of the flowering tachibana," names the summer flower paired with the hototogisu.
The third line, "perching on the branch," describes the bird.
In the fourth line, "naki toyomoseba," "toyomosu" means to make it ring and "ba" is an established condition.
In the last line, "hana wa chiritsutsu," "tsutsu" marks continuation, closing with the lingering scene of flowers falling as the bird sings.
Source: Manyoshu
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