Yomosugara tsuma tou shika no naku nae ni kohagi ga hara no tsuyu zo koboruru

English Translation

All the night through long
as the stag calls for his mate
his cries echoing,
over the bush-clover field
the dewdrops come spilling down

Meaning

All night long, as the stag cries out calling for his mate, the dew spills down across the field of bush clover.

Commentary

Book Five Autumn Poems II 446

Headnote: "On deer, composed when I held a poetry contest at my residence."
This is the tenth poem of the deer sequence. As the stag cries all night for its mate, dew spills from the field of bush clover. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "deer" for a poetry contest held at the author's residence.
The author was a son of Fujiwara no Tadaie who rose to Provisional Middle Counselor. He was the father of Fujiwara no Shunzei and a grandson of Nagaie, founder of the Mikohidari house.
The scene is an autumn night from dusk to dawn, in a field of blooming bush clover.
The direct occasion was the topic "deer" at a poetry contest held at the author's residence.

The first line, "yomosugara," means "all night long," placing the poem within the same night as the waking poems 445 and 447.
In the second line, "tsuma tou" means to call out for a mate, taking up the stag longing for its mate in 440 and 441.
In the third line, "nae ni" means "as" or "along with," showing that the deer's crying and the spilling of dew proceed together.
In the fourth line, "ko" is a prefix. Bush clover has long been likened to the deer's bride, so a stag crying for its mate in a field of clover is a fitting pairing.
In the last line, the emphatic "zo" is resolved by "koboruru," the attributive of the lower bigrade verb "koboru." The dew shaken from the clover is overlaid with the tears of the stag longing for its mate. The dew on the clover also anticipates the group of dew poems beginning at 461.

Author

Fujiwara no Toshitada

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other