Hototogisu itou toki nashi ayamegusa kazura ni semu hi koyu naki watare

霍公鳥いとふ時なしあやめぐさ
かづらにせむ日こゆ鳴き渡れ

Roma-ji: Hototogisu itou toki nashi ayamegusa kazura ni semu hi koyu naki watare
English Translation: Hototogisu,
there is no time I tire of you—
on the day we wear
irises woven in our hair,
come and sing your way past here.
Meaning: O cuckoo, there is never a time I tire of your song. On the day we wear irises woven in our hair, come this way and sing as you pass.
Commentary: Book Eighteen 4035

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the twenty-third day of the third month in spring of the twentieth year of Tenpyō, Tanabe no Sakimaro, clerk of the Office of Sake Brewing and envoy of the Minister of the Left Tachibana, was entertained at the residence of the governor Ōtomo no Yakamochi. New poems were composed there, old ones were recited, and each guest expressed his feelings."
The poet says he never tires of the cuckoo's voice, yet on the day of the fifth-month festival, when irises are worn in the hair, he especially wants it to sing as it passes this way. It seems to be one of the "old poems recited" mentioned in the headnote, a seasonal song offered to suit the banquet.
Tanabe no Sakimaro was a clerk in the Office of Sake Brewing who came to Etchū as the messenger of the Minister of the Left, Tachibana no Moroe. He was a poet of the late Man'yō period, skilled at long poems in praise of the court.
The same poem appears in Book Ten as 1955, a summer poem by an unknown author, so Sakimaro is thought to have recited an old song. The left note reads, "The four poems above are by Tanabe no Fubito Sakimaro."

First line, "hototogisu": the poem opens by calling to the cuckoo. Many cuckoo poems follow in this book, and the bird is sung again and again in the banquets for Sakimaro.
Second line, "itou toki nashi": "itou" means to dislike or find tiresome. The poet declares that its song is never tiresome, and the poem pauses after the second line.
Third line, "ayamegusa": the sweet flag, worn as a hair ornament at the festival of the fifth day of the fifth month.
Fourth line, "kazura ni semu hi": a "kazura" is a ring of plants or flowers worn in the hair. "Mu" is a softening auxiliary; the phrase points to the day of the iris garland, the fifth of the fifth month.
Last line, "koyu naki watare": "koyu" means "by way of here." The imperative ending calls out to the cuckoo. In 4054, composed by Yakamochi at a later banquet, we find "hototogisu koyo naki watare," and the two calls answer each other.
Author: Tanabe no Sakimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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