Saoshika no shigarami fusuru akihagi wa shitaba ya ue ni narikaeru ran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

さを鹿のしがらみ伏する秋萩は
下葉や上になりかへるらん

Roma-ji: Saoshika no shigarami fusuru akihagi wa shitaba ya ue ni narikaeru ran
English Translation: The bush clover of autumn
that the stag tangles and tramples
down beneath his feet:
have its lower leaves, perhaps,
been turned over to the top?
Meaning: The autumn bush clover that the stag tangles about his legs and tramples down: perhaps its lower leaves have been turned over to lie on top.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 514

Headnote: "In answer"
The poet answers that since the stag tangles and tramples the autumn bush clover, its lower leaves are turned over to the top, so they receive the dew first and color first. Responding to Korehira's question in the preceding poem, 513, he uses the autumn pairing of bush clover and deer to offer an answer that follows the logic of the question. It draws on the scene of a deer tangling and pressing down the bush clover found in a Kokinshū poem, "akihagi o shigarami fusete naku shika no."
The author, written as "Mitsune," is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. One of the compilers of the Kokinshū, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "saoshika no," means "the stag," with "sa" a prefix.
Second line, "shigarami fusuru," means "tangles about his legs and tramples down," describing the deer pushing through the bush clover.
Third line, "akihagi wa," means "the bush clover of autumn," taking up "hagi no" in the fourth line of the preceding poem, 513.
Fourth line, "shitaba ya ue ni," means "the lower leaves on top," with the binding particle "ya" expressing a question and resolved by "ran" in the final line. It answers by turning over the above and below of the preceding poem's "ue yori oku" in the second line and "shitaba" in the fourth.
Final line, "narikaeru ran," means "have been turned right over," with "ran" in the attributive form resolving the particle "ya."
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Shiratsuyu wa ue yori oku o ika nareba hagi no shitaba no mazu momizuran
Next Poem: Akihagi wa mazu sasu e yori utsurou o tsuyu no waku to wa omowazaranamu