Kaoru ka ni yosouru yori wa hototogisu kikaba ya onaji koe ya shitaru to - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

薫る香によそふるよりはほととぎす
聞かばや同じ声やしたると

Roma-ji: Kaoru ka ni yosouru yori wa hototogisu kikaba ya onaji koe ya shitaru to
English Translation: Rather than likening
him to a fragrance on the air,
I would hear the cuckoo,
wishing that I might find out
if its voice is still the same
Meaning: Rather than recalling the one who is gone through a fragrant scent, I would like to hear the cuckoo, to learn whether its voice is the same as his.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 971

Headnote: "Sent when, after the death of Prince Tametaka, President of the Board of Censors, Prince Atsumichi, Governor-General of Dazaifu, sent me a sprig of orange blossom and asked how I saw it"
After the death of her lover Prince Tametaka, President of the Board of Censors, his younger brother Prince Atsumichi, Governor-General of Dazaifu, sent her orange blossoms and asked how she saw them, and she sent this poem. Rather than recall him through the fragrance, I would hear the cuckoo and know if its voice is the same, she says. To the prince who sent the orange blossoms that recall people of the past, she answers that she would rather hear a voice than smell a fragrance, wanting to know if it is the same as his brother's, hinting at interest in the prince himself. The opening of The Diary of Izumi Shikibu records that her love affair with Prince Atsumichi began with this exchange.
The author, "Izumi Shikibu," was the daughter of Ōe no Masamune, Governor of Echizen. She became the wife of Tachibana no Michisada, Governor of Izumi, and bore him Koshikibu no Naishi, and later had love affairs with Prince Tametaka and Prince Atsumichi. She served Jōtōmon'in Shōshi and is known for her passionate love poems.
Linking orange blossoms with memories of people of the past draws on the Kokin Wakashū poem "satsuki matsu hanatachibana no ka o kageba mukashi no hito no sode no ka zo suru."

First line, "kaoru ka ni": "to the fragrant scent," meaning the orange blossoms Prince Atsumichi sent.
Second line, "yosouru yori wa": "yosou" means to liken or to associate, "rather than recall him through the scent."
Third line, "hototogisu": the summer bird paired with orange blossoms, here hinting at Prince Atsumichi.
Fourth line, "kikaba ya onaji": "baya" is a particle of wish, "I would hear." The poem pauses here, and what follows is inverted.
Fifth line, "koe ya shitaru to": "ya" is an interrogative binding particle and "taru" the attributive of the perfective "tari," "whether its voice is the same as his."
Author: Izumi Shikibu
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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