Tsuki tachishi hi yori okitsutsu uchishinoi matedo kinakanu hototogisu kamo

月立ちし日より招きつつうち偲ひ
待てど来鳴かぬ霍公鳥かも

Roma-ji: Tsuki tachishi hi yori okitsutsu uchishinoi matedo kinakanu hototogisu kamo
English Translation: Since the very day
the new month began, beckoning,
longing in my heart,
I wait, yet it does not come—
ah, the little cuckoo
Meaning: Ever since the new month began I have been calling it and longing for it, yet for all my waiting the cuckoo does not come to sing.
Commentary: Book Nineteen 4196

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three more poems resenting the lateness of the cuckoo's song"
Closing the three poems, it frankly states the resentment of waiting: since the day the fourth month began, the poet has longed for the cuckoo and tried to beckon it, yet it does not come and sing.
Looking back on the days of waiting since the start of the fourth month, when summer begins by the calendar, it sums up the sequence of resentful poems.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of the Grand Counselor Ōtomo no Tabito. From 746 he served as Governor of Etchū, living at the provincial headquarters in what is now Fushiki, Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture. He is regarded as the leading poet of the Nara period and is thought to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū.

First line, "tsuki tachishi" (when the month began): "tsuki tatsu" means for a new month to start, marking the beginning of the fourth month, the summer month.
Second line, "hi yori okitsutsu" (from that day, beckoning): "oku" means to summon, showing that he has been calling ever since.
Third line, "uchishinoi" (longing): "uchi" is a prefix, depicting yearning in the heart.
Fourth line, "matedo kinakanu" (though I wait, it does not come to sing), uses a concessive to show the gap between hope and reality.
Fifth line, "hototogisu kamo" (ah, the cuckoo): "kamo" is exclamatory, closing with the bird's name full of resentment and rounding off the three poems.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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