Shika no ne o kakine ni komete kiku nomi ka tsuki mo sumikeri aki no yamazato

鹿の音を垣根にこめて聞くのみか
月もすみけり秋の山里

Roma-ji: Shika no ne o kakine ni komete kiku nomi ka tsuki mo sumikeri aki no yamazato
English Translation: Not only do I hear
deer calling as if held within
my hedge of brushwood:
here the moon too dwells, shines clear
in this mountain home in autumn.
Meaning: Not only do I hear the deer calling as if they were held close within my hedge; the moon too dwells here, shining clear, in this mountain village in autumn.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 302

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "When people composed ten autumn poems each"
This is the seventh poem in the set of ten. In the mountain village in autumn, the poet not only hears the deer calling right by his hedge, as though they were shut within it, but the moon too dwells in the village, shining clear. It expresses the joy of a mountain dwelling that receives all the charm of autumn, the deer's voice and the moonlight.
Sumi plays on sumu, to dwell, and sumu, to be clear. Where the preceding poem told of a village awaiting autumn leaves with the showers, this one tells of a village filled with deer's voices and moonlight. The closing aki no yamazato is also used in 318, 435 and 476, where the charm of the mountain village in autumn is sung in many ways.

First line, “shika no ne o”: the voice of the deer.
Second line, “kakine ni komete”: as if shut within the hedge, showing how near the deer's voice sounds.
Third line, “kiku nomi ka”: nomi ka means not only, leading on to tsuki mo in the fourth line and showing the charms of the village piling up.
Fourth line, “tsuki mo sumikeri”: sumi is a pivot word joining sumu, for the moon to shine clear, and sumu, for it to dwell in the village, and keri expresses realization; the poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, “aki no yamazato”: ending on a noun, the dwelling filled with the deer's voice and the moonlight.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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