Yamabuki no shigemi tobikuku uguisu no koe o kikuramu kimi wa tomoshi mo

山吹の茂み飛び潜く鴬の
声を聞くらむ君は羨しも

Roma-ji: Yamabuki no shigemi tobikuku uguisu no koe o kikuramu kimi wa tomoshi mo
English Translation: Through the kerria thickets
flitting in and out, the warbler—
you who must be hearing
its song there at this moment,
how I envy you, my friend
Meaning: How I envy you, who must be hearing the warbler's song as it flits through the kerria thickets.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3971

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Envoy to a further poem, with tanka, sent to you." Before the chōka stands a letter in Chinese beginning "Your all-embracing virtue has bestowed grace upon my lowly self, and your priceless thoughts have consoled my humble heart"
He envies his friend, who must be hearing the warbler flitting through the kerria thickets—a poem of envy from the sickbed. This is an envoy to the chōka that Yakamochi, still not recovered, sent on the third day of the third month of 747 in reply to Ikenushi's consoling poems. In the letter he modestly says that as a child he never frequented the courts of the arts and in youth never studied at "the gate of Yama and Kaki," so he lacks words for making poems. This "Yama and Kaki" is taken to mean Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and Yamabe no Akahito (or, by another view, Yamanoue no Okura), an early example of reverence for poets of the past. The chōka laments that he let the season pass without picking flowers with his friend in their prime or hearing the warbler, and says that, moved by the kindness of Ikenushi's thoughts of him, he lies awake all night longing. Where Ikenushi encouraged him with warbler and kerria, he, unable to go out, envies Ikenushi who can enjoy the spring.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Major Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. Appointed Governor of Etchū in 746, he spent five years there, later serving as Junior Counselor and Governor of Inaba before rising to Middle Counselor. He is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.
The left note reads, "Third day of the third month, Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi."

First line, "yamabuki no": taking up "kinaku yamabuki" in Ikenushi's 3968.
Second line, "shigemi tobikuku": flying in and out of the thickets, the same expression as "the warbler that flits through the thickets of the spring fields" in the chōka.
Third line, "uguisu no": the same words as the first line of 3968, taking up Ikenushi's pairing directly.
Fourth line, "koe o kikuramu": ramu is present conjecture—"you must be hearing," imagining Ikenushi.
Fifth line, "kimi wa tomoshi mo": tomoshi means enviable, mo being exclamatory.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Ashihiki no yamazakurabana hitome dani kimi to shi miteba are koime ya mo
Next Poem: Idetatamu chikara o nami to komori ite kimi ni kouru ni kokorodo mo nashi