Hototogisu honomeku koe o izukata to kiki madowashitsu akebono no sora - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ほととぎすほのめく声をいづかたと
聞きまどはしつ曙の空

Roma-ji: Hototogisu honomeku koe o izukata to kiki madowashitsu akebono no sora
English Translation: O little cuckoo,
your faint and fleeting voice
from which direction,
I could not tell for listening,
in the sky at break of day
Meaning: I heard the cuckoo's faint call, but could not tell from which direction it came: the sky at break of day.
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 118

A faint cuckoo call is heard in the dawn sky, but the poet cannot tell where it came from. One feels the fragility of a single faint call that vanishes, and the breadth of the sky at daybreak.
From poem 104 through poem 126 in this book, poems on the cuckoo follow one another, expressing every mood around the bird: waiting for its first song, seeking it out, rejoicing at hearing it and lamenting having missed it.

First line, 'hototogisu', opens by naming the theme.
Second line, 'honomeku koe o', uses honomeku, to be faintly heard. Like 'faintly' in poem 123 in this book, it sings of the faintness of the cuckoo's voice.
Third line, 'izukata to', means from which direction.
Fourth line, 'kiki madowashitsu', means I was at a loss as I listened, tsu being the perfective auxiliary. The poem breaks after the fourth line.
Final line, 'akebono no sora', is the sky at daybreak, ending on a noun to leave a lingering mood.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
Prev Poem: Matsu hito no yado o ba shirade hototogisu ochi no yamabe o nakite sugu nari
Next Poem: Yado chikaku shibashi katarae hototogisu matsu yo no kazu no tsumoru shirushi ni