Hototogisu kumo no taema ni moru tsuki no kage honoka ni mo naki wataru kana - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ほととぎす雲の絶え間にもる月の
影ほのかにも鳴きわたるかな

Roma-ji: Hototogisu kumo no taema ni moru tsuki no kage honoka ni mo naki wataru kana
English Translation: O little cuckoo,
like the moon whose light spills through
the rifts in the clouds,
faintly, faintly as that gleam
you cross the sky in song
Meaning: The cuckoo crosses the sky singing, as faint as the moonlight spilling through the gaps in the clouds.
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 123

Just as the moonlight leaking through gaps in the clouds is faint, so the cuckoo crosses the sky with a faint song. Overlaying the summer moonlight with the faintness of the bird's voice, the poem paints a lovely scene in which sight and sound merge.
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, 'kumo no taema ni', means in the breaks of the clouds.
Third line, 'moru tsuki no', means of the moon that leaks through; from the second line to kage in the fourth, the words form a comparison leading to honoka, faint.
Fourth line, 'kage honoka ni mo', uses kage for moonlight, overlaying its faintness with that of the cuckoo's voice. Like 'faint voice' in poem 118 in this book, it sings of the voice's faintness.
Final line, 'naki wataru kana', means it crosses the sky singing, with the exclamatory kana.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kiki mo aezu kogi zo wakaruru hototogisu waga kokoro naru funade naraneba
Next Poem: Wagimoko ni ausaka yama no hototogisu akureba kaeru sora ni naku nari