聞く人のなどやすからぬ鹿の音は
わが妻をこそ恋ひて鳴くらめ
わが妻をこそ恋ひて鳴くらめ
- Roma-ji
-
Kiku hito no nado yasukaranu shika no ne wa waga tsuma o koso koite nakurame
- English Translation
-
Why should those who hear
be so troubled in their hearts?
The deer's calling voice:
surely it is for its mate
that it cries out in longing
- Meaning
- Why should those who hear it be so troubled? Surely the deer cries only out of longing for its own mate.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 124
Headnote: "Composed for the poetry contest of the First Princess in the fifth year of Eishō"
The author is listed here as an unnumbered poet, but the Shikashu attributes the poem to Dewa no Ben. It was composed for the poetry contest of the First Princess in Eishō 5 (1050).
The deer cries only for its own mate, so why are the listeners so disturbed? It captures how another's call of love stirs one's own longing, and with it the sequence on deer begins.
The first line, "kiku hito no," means "of those who hear" the deer.
The second line, "nado yasukaranu," asks "why are they not at ease?"
The third line, "shika no ne wa," is the call of the stag seeking its mate in autumn. It is the first poem of the deer sequence.
The fourth line, "waga tsuma o koso," means "for its own mate indeed," with koso answered by the realis rame in the last line.
The last line, "koite nakurame," conjectures "it must be crying in longing," taking the realis form to complete the koso construction.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Ōsaka no sugima no tsuki no nakariseba ikuki no koma to ikade shiramashi
- Next Poem
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Akihagi o kusa no makura ni musubu yo wa chikaku mo shika no koe o kiku kana