Fujinami no saki yuku mireba hototogisu naku beki toki ni chikazuki ni keri

藤波の咲き行く見れば霍公鳥
鳴くべき時に近づきにけり

Roma-ji: Fujinami no saki yuku mireba hototogisu naku beki toki ni chikazuki ni keri
English Translation: When I see the waves
of wisteria blooming on,
I know the cuckoo's
time for singing has drawn near—
the season is almost here.
Meaning: As I watch the wisteria blossoms open one after another, I realize the time when the cuckoo should sing has drawn near.
Commentary: Book Eighteen 4042

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "At that time it was agreed to go sightseeing on the lagoon of Fuse the next day, and so each expressed his feelings in a poem."
Seeing the wisteria blossoms open one after another, the poet realizes that the season of the cuckoo is near. Wisteria and cuckoo are a common pairing in the Man'yōshū, and here the shift from late spring to early summer is captured through both flower and bird.
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 left note reads, "The five poems above are by Tanabe no Fubito Sakimaro." The next poem, 4043, is Yakamochi's response, in which he worries whether the cuckoo will come to sing among the wisteria of Fuse tomorrow.

First line, "fujinami no": "wisteria waves," likening the swaying clusters of wisteria to waves. The flowers have moved from the plum of the preceding poem to wisteria.
Second line, "saki yuku mireba": "saki yuku" means blooming on one after another. "Mireba," the perfective form plus "ba," expresses a definite condition, "when I see."
Third line, "hototogisu": the bird that heralds early summer, paired with the wisteria.
Fourth line, "naku beki toki ni": "beki" expresses what is natural, "the time when it should sing," that is, the cuckoo's season.
Last line, "chikazuki ni keri": "ni" is perfective and "keri" exclamatory, expressing the poet's feeling on noticing the change of season.
Author: Tanabe no Sakimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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Next Poem: Asu no hi no fuse no uramino fujinami ni kedashi ki nakazu chirashitemu kamo