Oku ni nao hito minu hana no chiranu are ya tazune o iran yamahototogisu

奥になほ人見ぬ花の散らぬあれや
尋ねを入らん山ほととぎす

Roma-ji: Oku ni nao hito minu hana no chiranu are ya tazune o iran yamahototogisu
English Translation: Deep within the hills,
are there blossoms still unscattered
no one's eyes have seen?
I'll go in to seek them out,
mountain cuckoo, as you sing.
Meaning: Deep in the mountains, might there still be blossoms no one has seen, not yet fallen? I will go in to seek them, mountain cuckoo.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1443

Headnote: none
Deep in the mountains, might there still be blossoms no one has seen, not yet fallen? He will go in to seek them, mountain cuckoo, the poet says.
Though summer has come and blossom time has passed, there may yet be unfallen flowers deep in the hills, and he would enter in longing for them. The mountain cuckoo is a summer image, and the poem shows Saigyō's heart, still seeking blossoms amid the turning seasons.

First line, “oku ni nao”: deep within, still.
Second line, “hito minu hana no”: blossoms no one has seen.
Third line, “chiranu are ya”: ya questions, "might some remain unfallen?"; the line has an extra syllable and the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “tazune o iran”: I will go in seeking; the text reads tazune o iran.
Fifth line, “yamahototogisu”: ending on a noun, the mountain cuckoo, marking summer.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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