Ōigawa Ogura no yama no hototogisu iseki ni koe no tomaramashikaba

大井川小倉の山のほととぎす
井堰に声のとまらましかば

Roma-ji: Ōigawa Ogura no yama no hototogisu iseki ni koe no tomaramashikaba
English Translation: Ōi River flows,
on Ogura's mountainside
the cuckoo sings out:
if only at the weir, too,
its voice would come to stay!
Meaning: O cuckoo of Mount Ogura above the Ōi River, if only your voice would be held at the weir, as the water is, and linger here!
Commentary: Summer Poems 191

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composing five poems on the cuckoo"
This is the fourth of the five cuckoo poems. Regretting that the song of the cuckoo on Mount Ogura above the Ōi River so quickly passes away, the poet wishes that its voice, like the river's water, might be held back at the weir and stay.
The poem breaks off on mashikaba, leaving unsaid the thought that would follow, how happy I would be. The Ōi River and Mount Ogura are both poetic places of Saga, and the weirs of the Ōi River were well known.

First line, “Ōigawa”: the river flowing at the foot of Arashiyama in Saga, west of the capital, a poetic place.
Second line, “Ogura no yama no”: Mount Ogura, facing Arashiyama across the Ōi River, also a poetic place.
Third line, “hototogisu”: the cuckoo singing on Mount Ogura.
Fourth line, “iseki ni koe no”: iseki is a weir built to draw off water, recalling the weirs on the Ōi River; the idea is to hold back the voice as the weir holds back the water.
Fifth line, “tomaramashikaba”: mashika is the irrealis of the counterfactual mashi, and with ba it means if only it would stay; the poem breaks off without the conclusion, leaving a lingering feeling.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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