Miyagino no hagi ya ojika no tsuma naran hana sakishi yori koe no iro naru - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

宮城野の萩や小牡鹿の妻ならん
花咲きしより声の色なる

Roma-ji: Miyagino no hagi ya ojika no tsuma naran hana sakishi yori koe no iro naru
English Translation: Can the bush clover
of Miyagino be the wife
of the stag who calls?
Since the time its flowers bloomed
his voice has taken on color
Meaning: Could the bush clover of Miyagino be the stag's wife? Ever since its flowers bloomed, his calling voice has taken on a lustrous color.
Commentary: Book Four Autumn Poems I 249

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poet wonders whether the bush clover of Miyagino is the stag's wife, for ever since its flowers bloomed, the stag's calling voice has sounded lustrous, as if it had taken on color. Drawing on the old image of bush clover as the deer's wife, he catches the change in the voice of a stag who has found a mate with the phrase "the color of his voice."
The author, "Fujiwara no Mototoshi," was a son of Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Toshiie. Ranked alongside Minamoto no Toshiyori in Emperor Horikawa's poetry circle, he was the teacher of Fujiwara no Shunzei, compiler of the Senzai Wakashū. His official career was modest, and he rose no higher than the Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade.
Since the Man'yōshū, bush clover has been sung of as the deer's wife. Poem 234 of this book, "namida moyoosu tsuma naran / otozureshi yori sode no kawakanu," likewise surmises with "tsuma naran" and marks the start of a change with "since," taking the same shape as this poem.

First line, "Miyagino no": Miyagino is a poetic place in Michinoku famed for bush clover. Poem 256 of this book also names Miyagino.
Second line, "hagi ya ojika no": "ojika" is a stag, with "o" a prefix. The interrogative "ya" links with "ran" in the third line.
Third line, "tsuma naran": "is it his wife?", with "ran" closing the construction with "ya." The poem pauses here. It has the same form as "tsuma naran" in 234 of this book.
Fourth line, "hana sakishi yori": "shi" is the attributive past: "since its flowers bloomed."
Fifth line, "koe no iro naru": "his voice has taken on color." Applying "color," a word for the eye, to a voice heard with the ear, it overlays the bush clover's blossoms with the stag's call.
Author: Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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