Tabi ni shite mono mou toki ni hototogisu motona na naki so a ga koi masaru

旅にして物思ふ時に霍公鳥
もとなな鳴きそ我が恋まさる

Roma-ji: Tabi ni shite mono mou toki ni hototogisu motona na naki so a ga koi masaru
English Translation: Far from home, as I
am lost in brooding thoughts,
little cuckoo,
do not cry so needlessly,
for my longing only grows
Meaning: Little cuckoo, while I sit brooding far from home, do not cry so needlessly, for your voice makes my longing grow.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3781

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
He calls on the little cuckoo not to cry needlessly while he broods on his journey, for his longing grows. Whereas the preceding poem sang of the cuckoo's cry almost with resentment, this one directly asks it not to cry. Here too he calls his exile a "journey."
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 seven poems were composed by Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori expressing his thoughts through flowers and birds"; the seven poems from 3779 to 3785 of this book express his feelings through flowers and birds, six of them singing of the little cuckoo. 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, "tabi ni shite": being on a journey, calling his exile a journey.
Second line, "mono mou toki ni": when I am brooding, the same as the fourth line of the preceding poem, 3780.
Third line, "hototogisu": an address to the little cuckoo.
Fourth line, "motona na naki so": "motona" means needlessly, without reason, and "na ... so" is prohibition: do not cry needlessly. The poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, "a ga koi masaru": "masaru" means to increase: for my longing grows, adding the reason at the close.
Author: Nakatomi no Yakamori
Source: Manyoshu
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