Nazo shika no wabinaki su naru kedashiku mo akino no hagi ya shigeku chiruramu

なぞ鹿のわび鳴きすなるけだしくも
秋野の萩や繁く散るらむ

Roma-ji: Nazo shika no wabinaki su naru kedashiku mo akino no hagi ya shigeku chiruramu
English Translation: Why is it the deer
cries out sorrowful and sad?
Could it be, perhaps,
that the bush clover of the fields
is scattering thick and fast?
Meaning: Why does the deer cry out so mournfully? Could it be that the bush clover of the autumn fields is scattering thick and fast?
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2154

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the Calling of Deer"
This poem asks why the deer cries in grief and surmises it is because the bush clover of the autumn fields is scattering thickly. Whereas 2152 predicted the deer would cry in grief once the clover fell, this poem hears the deer's grieving cry and infers the clover's falling, so the two trace cause and effect in reverse.

In the first line, "nazo shika no," "nazo" means why.
In the second line, "wabinaki su naru," "naru" is the attributive of the hearsay "nari": that it cries in grief. The poem breaks here.
The third line, "kedashiku mo," means perhaps.
In the fourth line, "akino no hagi ya," "ya" is an interrogative particle in kakari-musubi with "ramu" in the last line.
In the last line, "shigeku chiruramu," "ramu" conjectures the cause, closing by surmising the reason for the deer's grief.
Source: Manyoshu
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