Yama chikaku ura kogu fune wa hototogisu naku watari koso tomari narikere - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

山近く浦漕ぐ舟はほととぎす
鳴くわたりこそ泊りなりけれ

Roma-ji: Yama chikaku ura kogu fune wa hototogisu naku watari koso tomari narikere
English Translation: Close by the mountains
the boats rowing through the bay
where the cuckoo sings,
that very place, it seems,
is where they come to harbor
Meaning: For boats rowing along the bay near the mountains, the very spot where the cuckoo sings is where they drop anchor.
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 121

Boats rowing through a bay near the mountains stop precisely where the cuckoo sings. The poem uses a waterside scene to portray love for the cuckoo, so strong that even voyagers halt their boats to hear it.
The next poem, 122, also pairs a boat with the cuckoo; where this poem stops at the place of the song, the next must row away before the song is finished, and the two form a pair.
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, 'yama chikaku', means near the mountains, showing a shore by the hills where the cuckoo sings.
Second line, 'ura kogu fune wa', takes ura, a bay, and makes the boats rowing through it the topic.
Third line, 'hototogisu', runs on into the fourth line: where the cuckoo sings.
Fourth line, 'naku watari koso', uses watari, vicinity, and koso binds with the realis kere in the final line.
Final line, 'tomari narikere', uses tomari, an anchorage, exclaiming that the place where the cuckoo sings is the very harbor.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
Prev Poem: Hototogisu mare ni naku yo wa yamabiko no kotauru sae zo ureshikarikeru
Next Poem: Kiki mo aezu kogi zo wakaruru hototogisu waga kokoro naru funade naraneba