Saoshika no tsuma yobu yama no okabe naru wasada wa karaji shimo wa furu tomo

さを鹿の妻呼ぶ山の岡辺なる
早稲田は刈らじ霜は降るとも

Roma-ji: Saoshika no tsuma yobu yama no okabe naru wasada wa karaji shimo wa furu tomo
English Translation: Where the stag calls out
seeking for his mate, the hills,
on the hillside there
the early rice I will not reap,
even though the frost may fall.
Meaning: I will not reap the early rice in the paddies on the hillside of the mountain where the stag calls for his mate—even if the frost falls.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2220

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the Paddy Fields"
This poem resolves not to reap the early rice in the paddies on the hillside where the stag calls for his mate, even if frost falls. It shows a wish to cherish the place of the deer's courting, readable either as consideration for the deer or as a projection of the speaker's own love. The stag calling for his mate, sung in the group on the calling of deer, here appears in a poem on paddy fields.

The first line, "of the stag," names the caller.
The second line, "the mountain where he calls his mate," names the place.
The third line, "on the hillside," locates the fields.
In the fourth line, "wasada wa karaji," "ji" expresses negative intention: I will not reap the early rice. The poem breaks here.
In the last line, "shimo wa furu tomo," "tomo" marks a concessive supposition; by inversion it shows the strength of resolve at the end.
Source: Manyoshu
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