Kotoshi dani matsu hatsukoe o hototogisu yo ni wa furusade ware ni kikaseyo - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今年だに待つ初声をほととぎす
世にはふるさで我に聞かせよ

Roma-ji: Kotoshi dani matsu hatsukoe o hototogisu yo ni wa furusade ware ni kikaseyo
English Translation: This year, at least,
that first song I wait to hear—
cuckoo, do not let
the world wear it out with use;
let me be the one to hear it.
Meaning: This year at least, cuckoo, do not let the world grow tired of the first song I have been waiting for; let me be the first to hear it.
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 57

Addressing the cuckoo, the poet asks to be the very first to hear its opening song. "This year at least" hints that in other years he has missed it. The frank wish to keep the first call for himself is expressed with an easy generosity befitting an imperial poet.
Where the preceding poem, 56, says the cuckoo is all that is left to await, this poem moves on to an appeal for its first song.

First line uses dani, "at least," to state a minimal wish.
Second line refers to the first cuckoo song heard in a given year.
Third line is a direct address, placed between the object in the second line and the verb at the end.
Fourth line uses furusu, "to make old," that is, to let a sound grow stale by being heard too often.
Fifth line ends in the imperative, a direct plea to the bird.
Author: Retired Emperor Kazan
Source: Shika Wakashu
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