Yama tōki miyako ni shi areba saoshika no tsuma yobu koe wa toboshiku mo aru ka

山遠き都にしあればさを鹿の
妻呼ぶ声は乏しくもあるか

Roma-ji: Yama tōki miyako ni shi areba saoshika no tsuma yobu koe wa toboshiku mo aru ka
English Translation: Far from mountains lies
this capital, where I dwell,
so the stag's calling
as he cries out for his mate
is so seldom to be heard!
Meaning: Since the capital lies far from the mountains, how rarely we hear the stag calling for his mate!
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2151

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the Calling of Deer"
This poem regrets that living in a capital far from the mountains, one seldom hears the stag calling for his mate. It laments how little the voices of nature are encountered in city life, showing a longing for the deer's voice. In contrast to 2146, where living near the mountains kept the speaker awake with the deer's voice, this poem laments that being far from the mountains makes the deer's voice rare.

The first line, "far from the mountains," names the situation.
In the second line, "miyako ni shi areba," "shi" is emphatic and "ba" an established condition: since it is the capital.
The third line, "of the stag," names the caller.
The fourth line, "the voice calling his mate," names the sound.
In the last line, "toboshiku mo aru ka," "toboshi" means rare and "ka" is exclamatory; the line is hypermetric and closes with a lament at the rarity of the deer's voice.
Source: Manyoshu
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