Hototogisu kii mo nakanu ka waga yado no hanatachibana no tsuchi ni ochimu mimu

霍公鳥来居も鳴かぬか我がやどの
花橘の地に落ちむ見む

Roma-ji: Hototogisu kii mo nakanu ka waga yado no hanatachibana no tsuchi ni ochimu mimu
English Translation: Hototogisu,
will you not come perch and sing?
At my own dwelling
blossoms of the orange tree—
I would watch them fall to earth.
Meaning: O hototogisu, won't you come, perch, and sing? I would watch the tachibana blossoms at my home fall to the ground.
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1954

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
This poem asks the hototogisu to come and sing on the tachibana branch at home, longing to see the blossoms fall to the ground at its voice. Whereas 1950 sang of the scene of tachibana blossoms falling at the bird's song, this poem wishes to see that scene, so the two correspond as actual and wished-for scenes. Its distinctive point is that rather than grieving at the falling, it seeks to admire the grace of the falling itself.

The first line, "hototogisu," is the one addressed.
In the second line, "kii mo nakanu ka," "kiiru" means to come and perch and "nu ka" is a negative question expressing a wish. The poem breaks here.
The third line, "of my dwelling," refers to the poet's home.
The fourth line, "of the flowering tachibana," uses the same word as 1950.
In the last line, "tsuchi ni ochimu mimu," the first "mu" is conjecture and the second intention; the line is hypermetric and closes with the wish to see the blossoms fall.
Source: Manyoshu
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