Uchinabiku haru tomo shiruku uguisu wa ueki no koma o nakiwataranamu

うち靡く春ともしるく鴬は
植木の木間を鳴き渡らなむ

Roma-ji: Uchinabiku haru tomo shiruku uguisu wa ueki no koma o nakiwataranamu
English Translation: That all may clearly
know that greening spring has come,
warbler, I pray you
sing as you go flitting through
the trees that we have planted
Meaning: So that it may be plain that spring has come, I wish the warbler would sing as it flits among the trees we have planted.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4495

Headnote: "On the sixth day, trees were temporarily planted in the inner garden to form a curtain of woods, and a banquet was held; a poem."
So that it may be plain that spring has come, may the warbler sing as it flits among the planted trees: a poem blessing the court banquet garden. According to the headnote, on the sixth of the first month trees were temporarily planted in the palace garden as a screen of woods, and a banquet was held. The left note attributes it to Ōtomo no Yakamochi, Middle Controller of the Right, and says it was not presented. Like the preceding poem, it belongs to the banquet moved up to the sixth, and it wishes to call warblers into the makeshift grove to make the spring banquet all the brighter.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Middle Controller of the Right.

The first line, "uchinabiku," from grasses swaying, is a pillow word for "spring," the same as the first line of Kannabi no Ikago's poem at the earlier banquet.
The second line, "haru tomo shiruku," means "so that it is clear that it is spring."
The third line, "uguisu wa," names the bird heralding spring, which he would call into the banquet garden.
The fourth line, "ueki no koma o," "among the planted trees," refers to the screen of woods in the headnote.
The closing line, "nakiwataranamu," uses namu, a wish directed at another: may it sing as it flits across.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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