Uguisu no koe wa suginu to omoedomo shiminishi kokoro nao koinikeri

鴬の声は過ぎぬと思へども
しみにし心なほ恋ひにけり

Roma-ji: Uguisu no koe wa suginu to omoedomo shiminishi kokoro nao koinikeri
English Translation: The warbler's voice
I had thought was past and gone
with the spring's passing,
yet my heart steeped in its song
longs to hear it still again
Meaning: I thought the season of the warbler's song was over, yet my heart, steeped in it, still longs for it.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4445

Headnote: "A poem composed at once on hearing a warbler sing."
I thought the warbler's season had passed, yet my heart steeped in its song still longs for it: the poem was composed on hearing the warbler during the banquet. The left note attributes it to Yakamochi. According to the headnote, he heard the warbler sing at the same banquet, and in its voice, still heard after summer had begun, he feels the lingering of spring gone by.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Junior Assistant Minister of Military Affairs.

The first line, "uguisu no," names the bird heralding spring, whose voice he heard at the fifth-month banquet.
The second line, "koe wa suginu to," means "that the time of its song had passed."
The third line, "omoedomo," "though I thought," turns concessively to the lower half.
The fourth line, "shiminishi kokoro," "a heart deeply steeped," means a heart grown familiar with the warbler's voice.
The closing line, "nao koinikeri," "I still long for it," ends in keri of realization.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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