Matsu hito wa tare naranaku ni hototogisu omoi no hoka ni nakaba ukaran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

待つ人は誰ならなくにほととぎす
思ひのほかに鳴かばうからん

Roma-ji: Matsu hito wa tare naranaku ni hototogisu omoi no hoka ni nakaba ukaran
English Translation: The one who waits for you
is none other than myself,
little cuckoo, so
if you sang where I'd not thought,
how bitter that would be for me
Meaning: The one who waits for you is none other than I, little cuckoo—if you were to sing somewhere I never expected, how bitter it would be.
Commentary: Book Four Summer Poems 164

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that it is none other than he who waits for the cuckoo, and that it would be bitter if it sang somewhere unexpected. It can also be read as laying over the longing for the cuckoo a resentment of a lover who visits someone else.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Matsu hito wa," means "the one who waits for the cuckoo."
The second line, "tare naranaku ni," means "is none other," with "naku ni" expressing a negative concession. It stresses that the one waiting is none other than himself.
The third line, "hototogisu," calls to the awaited bird. Following the preceding poem, 163, it again places the cuckoo in the third line.
The fourth line, "omoi no hoka ni," means "somewhere unexpected, against all expectation."
In the last line, "ba" marks a supposition, "ukara" is the adjective "ushi," bitter, and "n" is conjecture: "if you sang, it would be bitter."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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