When spring comes round,
the geese return north again;
on the white clouds’ road
they go their distant way—
would that I could send word.

Meaning

When spring comes, the geese return to the north. They go their way along the road of white clouds; if only I could send a message to the one who went down to the land of Koshi.

Commentary

Spring Songs, Book One

Hearing the cries of the returning geese, the poet thinks of someone who went down to the land of Koshi and composed this poem.

Entrusting a letter to geese is based on the tale of Su Wu of the Former Han,
but the story is not stated openly; hearing the cries of the geese, the poet thinks of a friend in the northern lands.

Author

Oshikochi no Mitsune

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

When many birds sing in the spring that chatters on, all things are made new— yet I alone grow old as each new spring comes round.
In the deep mountains, not knowing which way to go, with an anxious voice a calling bird calls out— how uncertain it sounds.
Seeing spring’s haze rise, the geese go, leaving it all; to a flowerless town— are they so used to living where no blossoms bloom?
When I plucked them, my sleeves are what now smell— plum blossoms’ scent; thinking blossoms are here, the warbler sings nearby.

When spring comes round, the geese return north again; on the white clouds’ road they go their distant way— would that I could send word.

When spring comes round,
the geese return north again;
on the white clouds’ road
they go their distant way—
would that I could send word.