Satsukiyama unohanazukuyo hototogisu kikedomo akazu mata nakanu ka mo

五月山卯の花月夜霍公鳥
聞けども飽かずまた鳴かぬかも

Roma-ji: Satsukiyama unohanazukuyo hototogisu kikedomo akazu mata nakanu ka mo
English Translation: Mountains of the fifth month,
moonlit night with unohana,
hototogisu—
though I hear it, never tired,
will it not sing once again?
Meaning: Mountains in the Fifth Month, a moonlit night with the deutzia in bloom, and the hototogisu—though I listen, I never tire. Will it not sing once more?
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1953

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
This poem praises the voice of the hototogisu singing on a moonlit night when the deutzia blooms on the mountains of the Fifth Month, saying one never tires of hearing it. The upper lines, stacking three nouns—Fifth Month mountains, a deutzia-moon night, hototogisu—paint the early summer night in one sweep. Like 1942 and 1945, it sings of the pairing of deutzia and hototogisu.

The first line, "satsukiyama," mountains of the Fifth Month, shows green early summer mountains.
The second line, "unohanazukuyo," a night of moonlight and deutzia blossoms, overlays white flowers and moonlight.
The third line, "hototogisu," is a noun, completing a sequence of nouns that sets out the emblems of an early summer night.
The fourth line, "though I listen, I never tire," is an expression of praise.
In the last line, "mata nakanu ka mo," "nu ka mo" is a negative question expressing a wish: will it not sing again?
Source: Manyoshu
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