Haru no yuku michi ni kimukae hototogisu katarau koe ni tachi ya tomaru to - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

春のゆく道にきむかへほととぎす
かたらふ声に立ちやとまると

Roma-ji: Haru no yuku michi ni kimukae hototogisu katarau koe ni tachi ya tomaru to
English Translation: On the road where spring
is departing, come and meet it,
O cuckoo, come;
at the sound of your sweet talk
spring might pause and stay awhile
Meaning: Come and meet spring on the road by which it departs, O cuckoo, for at the sound of your friendly talk it might stop and stay.
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems 89

To hold back the departing spring, the poet asks the cuckoo, a bird of summer, to come to the road by which spring is leaving and speak to it. Summoning the herald of summer in order to detain spring is a paradoxical idea. Poems on the end of spring follow from here.

First line, 'haru no yuku', means spring going on its way, personifying spring as a traveler.
Second line, 'michi ni kimukae', uses kimukae, a command to come and meet, and the poem breaks after the second line.
Third line, 'hototogisu', is the bird that announces summer, here addressed directly.
Fourth line, 'katarau koe ni', uses katarau, to talk intimately, likening the cuckoo's call to conversation.
Final line, 'tachi ya tomaru to', means in case it stops, giving the reason for the command above by inversion.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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