Kusa fukaki natsuno wakeyuku saoshika no ne o koso tatene tsuyu zo koboruru - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

草深き夏野分け行くさを鹿の
音をこそ立てね露ぞこぼるる

Roma-ji: Kusa fukaki natsuno wakeyuku saoshika no ne o koso tatene tsuyu zo koboruru
English Translation: Like the stag that parts
the deep grass of summer fields,
no cry do I raise,
though my voice is never heard,
yet the dewdrops spill and fall.
Meaning: Like the stag that makes his way through the deep grass of the summer fields without yet raising his cry, I do not weep aloud, and yet the dew of my tears spills down.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 1101

Headnote: "At the Minase Love Poem Contest in Fifteen Rounds, on 'Love in Summer.'"
This is the fifth poem of the sequence on hidden love that can no longer be held back. Like the stag parting the deep grass of summer fields without a cry, the speaker does not weep aloud, yet the dew of tears spills. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Love in Summer" at the Minase Love Poem Contest in Fifteen Rounds.
The author, "Regent and Grand Chancellor," is Fujiwara no Yoshitsune. The son of Regent Kujō Kanezane, he rose to regent and grand chancellor and wrote the kana preface to the Shin Kokinshū.
The Minase Love Poem Contest in Fifteen Rounds was held by Retired Emperor Go-Toba in Kennin 2 (1202).

The first line, "kusa fukaki," means "where the grass grows deep," showing the summer field.
The second line, "natsuno wakeyuku," means "making its way through the summer fields," and here the "summer" of the topic "Love in Summer" is worked in.
The third line, "saoshika no," means "of the stag." Deer were thought to cry in autumn longing for their mates, and in summer the stag does not yet call. The lines up to here form a preface leading to "ne o tate."
The fourth line, "ne o koso tatene," means "though I raise no cry," the particle "koso" answered by "ne," the perfective form of the negative "zu," which leads on with a concessive turn. The hidden lover who does not weep aloud is laid over the silent stag.
The last line, "tsuyu zo koboruru," closes with the attributive "koboruru" in answer to the particle "zo." Tears are likened to the dew on the grass of the summer field, showing that though no voice is raised, tears still fall. The sequence of hidden love is brought to a close through the contrast of voice and tears.
Author: Fujiwara no Yoshitsune
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kazu naranu kokoro no toga ni nashihateji shirasete koso wa mi o mo uramime
Next Poem: Nochi no yo o nageku namida to iinashite shibori ya semashi sumizome no sode