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- Manyoshu
Saoshika no tsuma totonou to naku koe no itaramu kiwami nabike hagihara
As far as the voice of the stag, calling to gather his mate, can reach—bend and sway, O fields of bush clover!
Kimi ni koi urabure oreba shiki no no no akihagi shinogi saoshika naku mo
As I sit forlorn with longing for you, a stag cries out, pushing through the autumn bush clover on the fields of Shiki.
Kari wa kinu hagi wa chirinu to saoshika no naku naru koe mo urabure ni keri
"The wild geese have come, the bush clover has fallen"—so it seems the stag cries, and even his voice has grown forlorn.
Akihagi no koi mo tsukineba saoshika no koe itsugi itsugi koi koso masare
Because his love for the autumn bush clover is never spent, the stag's voice goes on and on, and his longing only grows stronger.
Yama chikaku ie ya orubeki saoshika no koe o kikitsutsu inekatenu ka mo
Should I ever have made my home so near the mountains? Listening to the stag's cries, I cannot sleep.
Yama no he ni iyuku satsuo wa ōkaredo yama ni mo no ni mo saoshika naku mo
Though many hunters go into the hills, the stags cry out on the mountains and in the fields alike.
Ashihiki no yama yori koseba saoshika no tsuma yobu koe o kikamashi mono o
Had I come by way of the mountains, I could have heard the stag calling for his mate.
Yamabe ni wa satsuo no nerai kashikoke do oshika naku nari tsuma ga me o hori
Though the hunters' aim is to be feared on the mountainside, the stag cries out, longing to see the face of his mate.
Akihagi no chiriyuku mireba ōhoshimi tsumagoi surashi saoshika naku mo
Seeing the autumn bush clover scatter, his heart is heavy—the stag cries out, it seems, longing for his mate.
Yama tōki miyako ni shi areba saoshika no tsuma yobu koe wa toboshiku mo aru ka
Since the capital lies far from the mountains, how rarely we hear the stag calling for his mate!
Akihagi no chirisugiyukaba saoshika wa wabinaki semu na mizu wa tomoshimi
If the autumn bush clover scatters and is gone, the stag will surely cry in grief, lonely for the sight of it.
Akihagi no sakitaru nobe wa saoshika zo tsuyu o waketsutsu tsumadoi shikeru
In the fields where the autumn bush clover bloomed, it was the stag who went parting the dew as he courted his mate.
Nazo shika no wabinaki su naru kedashiku mo akino no hagi ya shigeku chiruramu
Why does the deer cry out so mournfully? Could it be that the bush clover of the autumn fields is scattering thick and fast?
Akihagi no sakitaru nobe ni saoshika wa chiramaku oshimi nakiyuku mono o
In the fields where the autumn bush clover blooms, the stag goes crying, grieving that the blossoms must scatter.
Ashihiki no yama no tokage ni naku shika no koe kikasu ya mo yamada morasu ko
The deer crying in the ever-shadowed depths of the mountain—do you hear its voice, you girl who watches over the mountain paddies?
Yūkage ni kinaku higurashi kokodaku mo higoto ni kikedo akanu koe ka mo
The evening cicada comes to sing in the evening light—though I hear it so much, day after day, its voice never tires me.