Ojika naku Ogura no yama no suso chikami tada hitori sumu waga kokoro kana

牡鹿鳴く小倉の山の裾近み
ただ独りすむ我が心かな

Roma-ji: Ojika naku Ogura no yama no suso chikami tada hitori sumu waga kokoro kana
English Translation: Near the foot of hills
of Ogura where the stags call,
being close to them,
all alone I dwell, and clear
grows this heart of mine, I find.
Meaning: Living close to the foot of Mount Ogura, where the stags call, I dwell all alone, and my heart grows clear and still.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 436

Headnote: "Hearing deer call while I lived at the foot of Ogura"
The headnote tells us this was composed when the poet lived at the foot of Mount Ogura in Saga, west of the capital, and heard the deer calling. Since the foot of Mount Ogura where the stags call is close by, he dwells there all alone listening to their cries, and his heart grows clear. He looks into a heart made clear by the deer's call, the heart of one living alone in a quiet retreat at the mountain's foot.
Sumu plays on sumu, to dwell, and sumu, to grow clear. Where the preceding poem wished to live in a mountain village for the deer's call, this one hears the deer as one actually living at the foot of Mount Ogura, so the wish and the actual dwelling answer each other across the two poems.

First line, “ojika naku”: where the stags call, modifying Ogura no yama in the second line.
Second line, “Ogura no yama no”: of Mount Ogura in Saga, west of the capital.
Third line, “suso chikami”: since its foot is near; mi added to an adjective stem expresses a cause.
Fourth line, “tada hitori sumu”: sumu is a pivot word joining sumu, to dwell there, and sumu, for the heart to grow clear.
Fifth line, “waga kokoro kana”: my heart, closing with kana.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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