Hatsukoe o kiku to wa nashi ni kyō mo mata yama hototogisu matazu shimo arazu

初声を聞くとはなしに今日もまた
山時鳥待たずしもあらず

Roma-ji: Hatsukoe o kiku to wa nashi ni kyō mo mata yama hototogisu matazu shimo arazu
English Translation: Though I do not mean
to listen for its first call,
today once again
for the mountain hototogisu
I cannot say I do not wait.
Meaning: Though I have no hope of hearing its first call, today once again I cannot say I am not waiting for the mountain hototogisu.
Commentary: Summer Poems 141

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Waiting for the hototogisu"
The poet admits that, though he has no hope of hearing it, he finds himself once again waiting for the first call of the mountain hototogisu. Through the double negative "I cannot say I do not wait," he conveys the wavering of a heart that waits while trying not to.

Line 1, "its first call," refers to the hototogisu's first song of the year.
Line 2 is the same as line 2 of the preceding poem, 140, meaning "without hope of hearing."
Line 3, "today once again," shows that he has been waiting all along, the days of waiting piling up.
Line 4, "the mountain hototogisu," refers to the bird still in the hills, not yet come down to the village in early summer.
Line 5, "I cannot say I do not wait," modestly concedes the waiting heart through layered negation. Like "it is not that I must wait" in 139, it avoids stating the longing outright.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
Prev Poem: Hototogisu kiku to wa nashi ni takekuma no matsu ni zo natsu no hikazu henubeki
Next Poem: Natsugoromo tachishi toki yori ashihiki no yama hototogisu nakanu hi zo naki