Orikara ni izure to mo naki tori no ne mo ikaga sadamemu toki naranu mi wa - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

折からにいづれともなき鳥の音も
いかが定めむ時ならぬ身は

Roma-ji: Orikara ni izure to mo naki tori no ne mo ikaga sadamemu toki naranu mi wa
English Translation: Depending on the time,
neither one can be called the best,
these voices of birds;
how could I ever judge them,
I, who have not had my time?
Meaning: The voices of these birds, neither better than the other, each depending on its season: how could I ever decide between them, I who have never had my time?
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 512

Headnote: "When His Majesty Retired Emperor En'yū commanded him to say which was superior, the bush warbler or the cuckoo"
The poet answers that he, a man who has not had his time, could hardly decide which is superior, the bush warbler or the cuckoo. The headnote shows that Emperor En'yū commanded him to say which bird was the finer. While evading the emperor's question on the grounds that the birds' voices each have their own charm according to the season, he quietly appeals about his own lack of fortune. Following the three poems on spring and autumn, it weighs the bush warbler of spring against the cuckoo of summer.
The author, Major Counselor Asateru, is Fujiwara no Asateru. A son of the Chancellor Fujiwara no Kanemichi, he rose to Major Counselor, and his personal collection is the Asateru-shū. Retired Emperor En'yū is Emperor En'yū, a son of Emperor Murakami.

First line, "orikara ni," means "according to the occasion."
Second line, "izure to mo naki," means "neither of which can be called the better," repeating the same phrase as the final line of 510, two poems earlier, "izure to mo nashi."
Third line, "tori no ne mo," means "the voices of the birds too," pointing to the bush warbler and cuckoo of the headnote.
Fourth line, "ikaga sadamemu," means "how could I decide," with "ikaga" rhetorical and "mu" an auxiliary of conjecture. The poem breaks after this fourth line, and the final line gives the reason in inverted order. It answers with the same phrasing the fourth and final lines of 519, which closes the exchange of questions, "ikaga ima wa sadamen."
Final line, "toki naranu mi wa," means "I, who have not had my time," setting the birds that sing in their seasons against his own life without favor.
Author: Fujiwara no Asateru
Source: Shui Wakashu
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