Shidari saku hagi no furue ni kaze kakete sugaisugai ni ojika naku nari

しだり咲く萩の古枝に風かけて
すがひすがひに牡鹿鳴くなり

Roma-ji: Shidari saku hagi no furue ni kaze kakete sugaisugai ni ojika naku nari
English Translation: On the old branches
of bush clover blooming low,
when the wind blows through,
following, one after one,
it seems, the stags are calling.
Meaning: When the wind blows over the old branches of the drooping bush clover, the stags seem to call one after another in its wake.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 429

Headnote: "Deer"
This poem was composed on the topic of the deer, and seven poems on the deer follow from here. When the wind blows over the old, drooping branches of the blooming bush clover, the stags can be heard calling one after another as though following it. The poem catches a chain of sound, the wind blowing through the bush clover and the deer calling in response.
The bush clover was called the deer's bride and often paired with it. Like 287, with its stag lying in the fields of bush clover, this poem pairs bush clover and deer, here linking the wind and the deer's calls.

First line, “shidari saku”: blooming with drooping branches.
Second line, “hagi no furue ni”: furue are old branches grown over the years.
Third line, “kaze kakete”: the wind blowing against them.
Fourth line, “sugaisugai ni”: one after another, following on, the deer calling after the wind.
Fifth line, “ojika naku nari”: nari infers from sound, it seems the stags are calling.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Yo o komete take no amido ni tatsu kiri no hareba yagate ya aken to suran
Next Poem: Hagi ga e no tsuyu tamezu fuku akikaze ni ojika naku nari Miyagino no hara