Meet the Poets of Hyakunin Isshu
Sarumaru Dayū

Meaning

Deep in the mountains, treading through the scattered autumn leaves, I hear a deer cry. Listening to that voice, I feel the sadness of autumn all the more.

Commentary

Autumn is the rutting season for deer, when stags roam in search of does, calling out in their characteristic high, plaintive voice.

This mournful cry seemed to embody the deepening of autumn and its air of lonely stillness.

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