Uguisu no kinaku yamabuki utagata mo kimi ga te furezu hana chirame ya mo

鴬の来鳴く山吹うたがたも
君が手触れず花散らめやも

Roma-ji: Uguisu no kinaku yamabuki utagata mo kimi ga te furezu hana chirame ya mo
English Translation: The yellow kerria
where the warblers come to sing—
surely they will not,
untouched by your hand, my friend,
let their blossoms scatter down
Meaning: The kerria where the warblers come to sing—surely its flowers will not fall without your hand having touched them.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3968

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: a letter in Chinese beginning "Suddenly I am honored with your fragrant letter; its brushwork soars above the clouds. You have also sent Japanese poems, a forest of words spread like brocade"
Surely the kerria where the warblers sing will not let its blossoms fall before his friend's hand has touched them—a poem encouraging Yakamochi in the hope of his recovery. This is one of two poems Ikenushi sent on the second day of the third month of 747 in answer to Yakamochi's poems of sorrow. The letter says that, unexpectedly honored with his letter and poems, he recites them and so consoles his longing. Describing late spring as the most charming season—red peaches glowing, playful butterflies dancing round the flowers, green willows swaying, lovely warblers singing hidden in the leaves—he laments that they cannot enjoy it together and closes by saying that, as the proverb has it, he adds wisteria to brocade, offering his clumsy poems in place of conversation. Answering Yakamochi's wish to pick flowers with him soon, he encourages him that he will surely recover and hold the flowers before they fall.
The poet, Ōtomo no Ikenushi, served as Secretary of Etchū under Governor Yakamochi. A member of the same clan and well versed in Chinese verse and prose, he exchanged many poems and letters with Yakamochi during the Etchū years.
The left note reads, "Second day of Kosen, Secretary Ōtomo no Sukune Ikenushi." Kosen is another name for the third month.

First line, "uguisu no": the same words as the first line of Yakamochi's 3966, framed as an answer to the poem received.
Second line, "kinaku yamabuki": kerria where warblers come and sing, a late-spring flower. Yakamochi's reply, 3971, answers with the same pairing: "the warbler that flits through the thickets of kerria."
Third line, "utagata mo": an adverb meaning "surely not," used with a rhetorical question. Ikenushi uses the same word in 3949.
Fourth line, "kimi ga te furezu": "untouched by your hand," taking up "taori kazasamu" in Yakamochi's 3966.
Fifth line, "hana chirame ya mo": meya mo is rhetorical—"would the flowers fall? surely not," closing with encouragement.
Author: Ōtomo no Ikenushi
Source: Manyoshu
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