Satsukiyama hanatachibana ni hototogisu komorau toki ni aeru kimi ka mo

五月山花橘に霍公鳥
隠らふ時に逢へる君かも

Roma-ji: Satsukiyama hanatachibana ni hototogisu komorau toki ni aeru kimi ka mo
English Translation: Mountains of the fifth month,
in the flowering orange trees
the hototogisu
hides itself away, and then
it is you I come to meet.
Meaning: In the Fifth Month mountains, when the hototogisu hides itself among the flowering tachibana—that is when I have come to meet you.
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Love Poems 1980

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Birds"
This poem sings of the joy of finally meeting the beloved at the time when the hototogisu hides among the flowering tachibana of the Fifth Month mountains. The image of the bird hidden in the blossoms overlaps with that of lovers meeting in secret. Like 1953 it begins "satsukiyama," layering early summer emblems to color the joy of love.

The first line, "satsukiyama," is the same opening as 1953.
The second line, "in the flowering tachibana," names where the bird hides.
The third line, "hototogisu," is the subject.
In the fourth line, "komorau toki ni," "komorau" means to stay hidden, hinting at a secret meeting.
In the last line, "aeru kimi ka mo," "ka mo" is exclamatory; it is the same ending as 1969, closing with joy at the meeting.
Source: Manyoshu
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