Satsukiyama ko no shitayami ni tomosu hi wa shika no tachido no shirube narikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

五月山木の下闇にともす火は
鹿のたちどのしるべなりけり

Roma-ji: Satsukiyama ko no shitayami ni tomosu hi wa shika no tachido no shirube narikeri
English Translation: On the hills in May,
in the darkness under trees,
the fires that are lit
are guides to show the places
where the deer are standing still.
Meaning: The fires lit in the darkness beneath the trees on the mountains of the Fifth Month turn out to be guides to where the deer are standing.
Commentary: Book Two Summer Poems 127

Headnote: "For the monthly folding screens in the reign of Engi"
The fires lit for torch hunting in the darkness beneath the dense trees of the Fifth Month's mountains turn out to be guides for finding where the deer stand. Linking the flame in the darkness with the whereabouts of the deer, the poem explains the scene of torch hunting. According to the headnote, it accompanied a folding screen depicting the events of each month, made in the Engi era of Emperor Daigo.
The author, written as Tsurayuki, is Ki no Tsurayuki. The leading compiler of the Kokinshū, he wrote its Kana Preface and the Tosa Diary, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "satsukiyama," refers to the mountains in the Fifth Month.
Second line, "ko no shitayami ni," refers to the darkness under thickly grown trees. It is an image of summer darkness that echoes "satsukiyami" in 124 of this book.
Third line, "tomosu hi wa," refers to the fires lit for torch hunting. Taking up "tomoshi suru" from the preceding poem, it continues the torch-hunting poems.
Fourth line, "shika no tachido no," means "of the place where the deer stand." The next poem, 128, uses the same "shika no tachido no" in its second line, so the two poems form a pair.
Final line, "shirube narikeri," means "were guides after all," with "keri" expressing the exclamation of realization. Whereas here the fire reveals where the deer stand, the next poem says the deer cannot be seen, contrasting a scene of seeing with one of not seeing.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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