Saranu dani yūbe sabishiki yamazato no tsuyu no magaki ni oshika naku nari - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

さらぬだに夕べ寂しき山里の
露の籬にを鹿鳴くなり

Roma-ji: Saranu dani yūbe sabishiki yamazato no tsuyu no magaki ni oshika naku nari
English Translation: Even were it not so,
lonely at evening is
the mountain village,
and by the dew-wet brushwood fence
I hear a stag crying
Meaning: The mountain village is lonely at evening as it is, and now by its dew-wet brushwood fence a stag is crying.
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems II 311

Headnote: "Composed when a hundred-poem sequence was presented"
Composed for a hundred-poem sequence. The mountain village is lonely at evening even with nothing else, the poet says, yet by its dew-wet brushwood fence a stag is crying. She conveys how, in a mountain village already lonely at dusk, the deer's voice deepens the loneliness further.
The author, "Taikenmon'in no Horikawa," was the daughter of Minamoto no Akinaka, Head of the Office of Divinities, and served Taikenmon'in Shōshi. She was one of the authors of Retired Emperor Sutoku's Kyūan Hyakushu, and a poem of hers is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
382 of this book opens with the same line, "saranu dani," on the loneliness of autumn's end in a mountain village, the deer's voice here pairing with the temple bell there.
The fourth line of the text reads "tsuyu no magaki ni," which does not match "kiri no magaki ni" in the reading line. Here the text is followed.

First line, "saranu dani": "even if it were not so." 382 of this book opens with the same line, also on the loneliness of a mountain village.
Second line, "yūbe sabishiki": "lonely at evening," showing the mountain village's natural loneliness.
Third line, "yamazato no": modifying "magaki" in the fourth line and setting the place. Since 303, the loneliness of autumn in a mountain village has been sung again and again in this book.
Fourth line, "tsuyu no magaki ni": "magaki" is a coarse fence of bamboo or brushwood, and the dew on it carries the chill of autumn.
Fifth line, "oshika naku nari": "oshika" is a stag, and "nari" infers from sound, "I hear it crying."
Author: Taikenmon-in no Horikawa
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Saoshika no naku ne wa nobe ni kikoyuredo namida wa toko no mono ni zo arikeru
Next Poem: Minatogawa ukine no toko ni kikoyu nari Ikuta no oku no saoshika no koe