Koe tatete naki zo shinubeki akigiri ni tomo madowaseru shika ni wa aranedo - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

声立てて泣きぞしぬべき秋霧に
友まどはせる鹿にはあらねど

Roma-ji: Koe tatete naki zo shinubeki akigiri ni tomo madowaseru shika ni wa aranedo
English Translation: Raising up my voice,
I could surely weep aloud,
though I am not the deer
that in the mists of autumn
has lost its companion
Meaning: I could surely weep aloud, though I am not the deer that has lost its companion in the autumn mist.
Commentary: Book Seven Autumn Poems III 372

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that though not the deer crying for the companion it has lost in the autumn mist, he too could weep aloud. It overlays his own forlorn wish to weep with the deer calling for a friend lost in the mist.
372 and 373 of this book are two poems that stand together on the cries of deer.
The poet, Ki no Tomonori, was a son of Ki no Aritomo and a cousin of Ki no Tsurayuki. He was one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū but died before it was completed. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, and his "hisakata no hikari nodokeki haru no hi ni" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Koe tatete," means "raising my voice."
In the second line, "nu beshi" means "surely": "I would surely weep." The particle "zo" and the attributive "beki" form a kakarimusubi pattern, and the poem pauses here.
The third line, "akigiri ni," means "in the autumn mist."
In the fourth line, "madowasu" means to lose sight of: "that has lost its companion."
The last line, "shika ni wa aranedo," means "though I am not the deer," standing in inversion with the second line and likening the poet's urge to weep to the deer.
Author: Ki no Tomonori
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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