Ashihiki no yama yori koseba saoshika no tsuma yobu koe o kikamashi mono o

あしひきの山より来せばさを鹿の
妻呼ぶ声を聞かましものを

Roma-ji: Ashihiki no yama yori koseba saoshika no tsuma yobu koe o kikamashi mono o
English Translation: On the rugged hills,
had I come along that way,
of the stag, the voice
calling out to find his mate
I might have heard, but alas!
Meaning: Had I come by way of the mountains, I could have heard the stag calling for his mate.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2148

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the Calling of Deer"
This poem regrets missing the chance, saying that had the speaker come by way of the mountains, the stag's call to his mate could have been heard. Against the deer crying on mountains and fields in the preceding poem, this one sings of regret at having missed the deer's voice, expressing the longing for it in counterfactual form. It is the opposite of the feeling in 2146, which lamented sleeplessness from the deer's voice.

The first line, "ashihiki no," is a pillow word attached to "mountain."
In the second line, "yama yori koseba," "se" is the irrealis of the past "ki" and "ba" marks a supposition: had I come by the mountains.
The third line, "of the stag," names the caller.
The fourth line, "his voice calling his mate," names the sound.
In the last line, "kikamashi mono o," "mashi" is counterfactual and "mono o" adversative and exclamatory, closing with regret.
Source: Manyoshu
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