Karasu tou ōosodori no masade ni mo kimasanu kimi o koroku to zo naku

烏とふ大をそ鳥のまさでにも
来まさぬ君をころくとぞ鳴く

Roma-ji: Karasu tou ōosodori no masade ni mo kimasanu kimi o koroku to zo naku
English Translation: The bird called "crow,"
that great and foolish bird—
though truly, in fact,
you will not come to me at all,
"Koroku, he comes!" it cries.
Meaning: That big fool of a bird they call the crow keeps crying "koroku—he's coming!"—though in truth you never come.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3521

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
The crow, that heedless bird, keeps crying "koroku," as if to say "he's coming," raising hopes for a lover who never comes—so a woman complains. The wit of hearing words in the crow's cry carries both the poignancy and the humor of a waiting woman.
It is one of the love exchanges. From here, poems about birds and beasts continue for a while. Like 3374 from Musashi, it uses the word "masade ni mo."
The poet is unknown. The Azuma uta are thought to have been sung among the people of the eastern provinces, and they are marked by plain, open-hearted expression mixed with local dialect.

First line, "karasu tou": "Tou" is a contraction of "to iu": the bird called crow.
Second line, "ōosodori no": "Oso" means foolish, rash, a scolding name for the crow.
Third line, "masade ni mo": "Masade ni" means truly, the same word as in 3374.
Fourth line, "kimasanu kimi o": "You who do not come."
Final line, "koroku to zo naku": "Koroku" is the crow's cry heard as "koro ku," "he comes"; "zo" is a binding particle.
Source: Manyoshu
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