Yo o komete Akashi no seto o kogiizureba haruka ni okuru saoshika no koe - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夜をこめてあかしの瀬戸を漕ぎ出づれば
はるかに送るさを鹿の声

Roma-ji: Yo o komete Akashi no seto o kogiizureba haruka ni okuru saoshika no koe
English Translation: While night is still deep,
as we row out through the strait
of Akashi's dawn,
from far away it sees us off,
the crying of the stag
Meaning: As we row out through the Akashi strait while night is still deep, a stag's cry seems to see us off from far away.
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems II 314

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on the topic 'Hearing Deer While Moored at Night'"
Composed on the topic "Hearing Deer While Moored at Night." As the poet's boat rows out into the Akashi strait while it is still deep night, a stag's voice comes from far away, as if seeing him off. Depicting the boat leaving the harbor and the deer crying on the shore as the one seen off and the one seeing off, he conveys the forlornness of setting out.
The author, "Shun'e Hōshi," was the son of Minamoto no Toshiyori. A monk of Tōdaiji, he named his quarters at Shirakawa in the capital the Karin'en, the Poetry Grove, and made it a gathering place for many poets. A poem of his is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Where the two poems before hear the deer from a moored boat, this poem and the next, 315, hear it from a boat rowing out of the harbor.

First line, "yo o komete": "while it is still deep night," showing that the boat sets out before dawn.
Second line, "Akashi no seto o": "Akashi" is a pivot word joining the place name in Harima with "akashi," "growing light," answering "yo," night, in the first line. "Seto" is a narrow strait between two shores.
Third line, "kogiizureba": a hypermetric line of six syllables, "as we row out." It shares the verb with "kogiizuru" in the next poem, 315.
Fourth line, "haruka ni okuru": "seeing off from far away," likening the deer's voice to one who sees a traveler off. The deer seeing off the boat reverses the roles of the one who waits and the one who leaves.
Fifth line, "saoshika no koe": ending on a noun, the same last line as the first poem of the run, 312.
Author: Shun'e
Source: Senzai Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ukine suru Ina no minato ni kikoyu nari shika no ne orosu mine no matsukaze
Next Poem: Minatogawa yobune kogiizuru oikaze ni shika no koe sae seto wataru nari