Ashihiki no yamatani koete nozukasa ni ima wa nakuramu uguisu no koe

あしひきの山谷越えて野づかさに
今は鳴くらむ鴬の声

Roma-ji: Ashihiki no yamatani koete nozukasa ni ima wa nakuramu uguisu no koe
English Translation: Over the mountains
with their trailing foot-worn slopes
and valleys it flew;
on the hillocks of the moor
it must be singing now—the warbler
Meaning: Having crossed the mountains and valleys, it must be singing now on the knolls of the open fields—the voice of the bush warbler.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3915

Headnote: "A poem by Yamabe no Sukune Akahito on the warbler in spring"
The poet imagines the bush warbler, having crossed mountains and valleys, now singing on a knoll in the fields. According to the left note, the date and place of composition are unknown, and it was written down just as it was heard. Recorded as an older poem passed on by word of mouth, it is a landscape poem that conveys the deepening of spring through the warbler's movement from mountain to moor.
The poet, Yamabe no Akahito, was a court poet of the early Nara period, a master of landscape poetry ranked alongside Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.
The left note reads, "The date and place of the above have not yet been ascertained; it is simply recorded here as it was heard."

First line, "ashihiki no": a pillow word for mountains; 3911 in this book likewise opens with this pillow word for the hills.
Second line, "yamatani koete": "crossing mountains and valleys," showing the warbler moving from the mountains to near the villages.
Third line, "nozukasa ni": nozukasa is a knoll or rise in the fields.
Fourth line, "ima wa nakuramu": ramu expresses present conjecture—"it must be singing now," imagining a bird out of sight.
Fifth line, "uguisu no koe": ending on a noun and placing the subject last in inversion, the poem closes memorably on the warbler's voice.
Author: Yamabe no Akahito
Source: Manyoshu
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