Uda no no no akihagi shinogi naku shika mo tsuma ni kouraku ware ni wa masaji

宇陀の野の秋萩しのぎ鳴く鹿も
妻に恋ふらく我れにはまさじ

Roma-ji: Uda no no no akihagi shinogi naku shika mo tsuma ni kouraku ware ni wa masaji
English Translation: On the plain of Uda,
pushing through the autumn clover,
even the crying deer,
in its longing for a mate,
could not surpass me, I'm sure
Meaning: Even the deer that cries as it pushes through the autumn bush clover on Uda Plain could not surpass me in longing for a wife.
Commentary: Book Eight Autumn Love Poems 1609

Headnote: "A poem by Tajihi no Mahito [his name is missing]"
The poet says that even the deer crying for its mate as it pushes through the autumn bush clover on Uda Plain could not match him in the depth of his longing for a wife. Invoking the deer, emblem of longing for a mate, he exaggerates the intensity of his own love.
The author, Tajihi no Mahito, was a man of the Tajihi clan holding the rank-title mahito. The headnote says his name is missing, and it is not known.

The first line, with an extra syllable, names the plain around Uda in Nara.
In the second line, "shinogu" means to push through or press down.
The third line means "even the deer crying as it pushes through the clover in search of its mate." Ōtomo no Yakamochi's 1599 in this book also sings of a deer pushing through clover with its breast.
The fourth line means "its longing for a mate."
The final line, with the negative conjectural "ji," declares that it would not surpass him, stressing that his love exceeds the deer's.
Author: Tajihi no Mahito
Source: Manyoshu
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