Hototogisu ima nakazu shite asu koemu yama ni naku tomo shirushi arame ya mo

霍公鳥今鳴かずして明日越えむ
山に鳴くとも験あらめやも

Roma-ji: Hototogisu ima nakazu shite asu koemu yama ni naku tomo shirushi arame ya mo
English Translation: Hototogisu,
if you do not sing now,
though on the mountain
I must cross tomorrow you sing,
what good would that be to me?
Meaning: O cuckoo, if you do not sing now, what good will it be if you sing on the mountain I must cross tomorrow?
Commentary: Book Eighteen 4052

Headnote: "Four poems from a banquet at the residence of the secretary Kume no Ason Hironawa, entertaining Tanabe no Fubito Sakimaro."
The poet says that if the cuckoo does not sing now, it will be no use if it sings on the mountain he must cross tomorrow. Sakimaro, who is to leave Etchū the next day, regrets not hearing the cuckoo at the farewell banquet and expresses his reluctance to let these last hours in the province go.
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.
These poems come from a farewell banquet held at the residence of the secretary Kume no Hironawa, and the left note says they were composed on the twenty-sixth.

First line, "hototogisu": it opens by calling to the cuckoo. Continuing from the outing of the day before, the cuckoo is again the theme.
Second line, "ima nakazu shite": stressing "now," it expresses the wish that the bird sing at this very banquet.
Third line, "asu koemu": "mu" is conjectural or softening, "that I will cross tomorrow." It points to the next day's departure.
Fourth line, "yama ni naku tomo": "tomo" is concessive, "even if you sing on the mountain." "Now" and "tomorrow," the banquet and the mountain road, are set against each other.
Last line, "shirushi arame ya mo": "shirushi" means effect or worth. "Me ya mo" is rhetorical: "what good would it be? None."
Author: Tanabe no Sakimaro
Source: Manyoshu
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