Kaso nashi ni seki tobikoyuru hototogisu amata ga ko ni mo yamazu kayowamu

過所なしに関飛び越ゆる霍公鳥
多我子尓毛止まず通はむ

Roma-ji: Kaso nashi ni seki tobikoyuru hototogisu amata ga ko ni mo yamazu kayowamu
English Translation: Without any pass
flying over the barrier,
the cuckoo goes;
(here the line cannot be read)
so would I go to you, unceasing
Meaning: The cuckoo flies over the barrier without needing any pass; (the fourth line cannot be read with certainty) so would I, too, go to you without ceasing.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3754

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
Singing of the cuckoo that flies freely over the barrier without any travel pass, he expresses his wish to go to the young woman without ceasing. The contrast between an exile not permitted to cross the barrier and a bird that comes and goes freely is vivid. The fourth line of the original text, written "多我子尓毛," is notoriously difficult to read; even the kundoku reading leaves it in kanji, and no reading is settled. The romanization follows the Kan'ei printed edition's reading, "amata ga ko ni mo," but its meaning remains unclear.
The author, Nakatomi no Yakamori, was a son of Nakatomi no Azumahito, from the Nakatomi clan in charge of the rites of the gods. He was exiled to Echizen Province for an offense, but was later pardoned and returned to the capital.
A left note reads "the above thirteen poems are by Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori"; the thirteen poems from 3754 to 3766 of this book were sent by Yakamori to the young woman from his place of exile. The latter half of this book contains sixty-three poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome. According to the book's table of contents, when Yakamori took as his wife the young woman, a lady-in-waiting of the palace storehouse office, he was exiled to Echizen Province by imperial decree. The place of exile is thought to be Ajimano in Echizen, near present-day Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture.

First line, "kaso nashi ni": "kaso" (kwaso) is a permit for passing a barrier checkpoint: without such a pass.
Second line, "seki tobikoyuru": flying over the barrier, referring to the checkpoint on the road to Echizen.
Third line, "hototogisu": the little cuckoo, a bird heralding summer, here sung as a creature freely crossing the barrier.
Fourth line, "多我子尓毛": a line notoriously difficult to read, its reading and meaning both unsettled. The Kan'ei edition reads it "amata ga ko ni mo."
Fifth line, "yamazu kayowamu": "mu" is intention: I would go without ceasing, ending with his wish to go to the young woman like the cuckoo.
Author: Nakatomi no Yakamori
Source: Manyoshu
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