Ta ga sode ni omoi yosoete hototogisu hanatachibana no eda ni nakuran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

誰が袖に思ひよそへて郭公
花橘の枝に鳴くらん

Roma-ji: Ta ga sode ni omoi yosoete hototogisu hanatachibana no eda ni nakuran
English Translation: Whose sleeves does it think
those blossoms may resemble,
this cuckoo,
that it sings upon the boughs
of the mandarin in bloom?
Meaning: Whose sleeves, I wonder, does the cuckoo liken them to, singing on the branches of the flowering mandarin orange?
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 112

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet wonders whose sleeves the cuckoo, singing on a branch of flowering mandarin orange, likens the fragrance to. Drawing on the old idea that the scent of mandarin blossoms recalls the scented sleeves of someone from the past, the poem finds nostalgia even in the cuckoo.
The poem draws on the Kokinshū poem, "Satsuki matsu hanatachibana no ka o kageba mukashi no hito no sode no ka zo suru."

First line, "ta ga sode ni," means "to whose sleeves," drawing on the Kokinshū poem that links the scent of mandarin blossoms with the fragrance of sleeves.
Second line, "omoi yosoete," means "likening them."
Third line, "hototogisu," is the cuckoo singing on a branch of mandarin. Whereas the preceding poem paired the cuckoo with iris, this one pairs it with mandarin blossoms.
Fourth line, "hanatachibana no," refers to the fragrant white blossoms of the mandarin orange that bloom in early summer.
Final line, "eda ni nakuran," means "why does it sing on the branch," with "ran" as an auxiliary of conjecture about cause.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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