奥山に
紅葉ふみわけ
鳴く鹿の
声きく時ぞ
秋は悲しき
Translation-
When I hear the voice
of the stag crying for his mate
stepping through the fallen leaves
deep in the mountains—this is the time
that autumn is saddest. Sarumaru.
Notes/Comments-
This particular translation is given by professor Mostow, who adds a remark about how this is a particularly tricky poem to translate. Tricky because along the line, 'stepping through the fallen leaves' we do not know who is stepping on the fallen scarlet maple leaves, is it the deer or the poet? The identity of the one yearning for his lost mate has been kept beautifully ambiguous.
The poem ends at 'Sarumaru' but there is no reference given about who this character actually is. No form of identity has been revealed except for the name. It could be the poet or the lost lover of the poet, or anyone/anything else. Considering that this poem is based on the pain of separation from one's beloved, it is not tough to assume that this mysterious personality could be the sole objective and inspiration of the poem. It can be vaguely assumed to be a forbidden lover of the poet.
However, in no form of preserved history, are there any clues about this person, Sarumaru. One possibility can also be that 'Sarumaru' could be a name given by the poet to his lover, out of fondness, and therefore, there are no traces about the identity of this person. But this is just one of the reasons I like to think of. Whatever be the reason, it earned him a place among the Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry.
I personally prefer to think of this poem in a way that while the poet is traversing the woods, calling out for his lost mate, the herd of deer watching his pain and sadness start crying in melancholy of one's unrequited love.
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Hyakunin Isshu
Poetry100 poems by 100 poets. Classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese waka (short poems) by one hundred poets. Hyakunin isshu can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem (each)." These poems hold a special meaning to me, and so I dec...
