うき事を思ひつらねて雁が音の
鳴きこそ渡れ秋の夜な夜な
鳴きこそ渡れ秋の夜な夜な
- Roma-ji
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Uki koto o omoitsuranete kari ga ne no
naki koso watare aki no yonayona - English Translation
-
My troubled thoughts
I string together one by one—
like the wild geese’ cries,
that pass across the autumn sky
night after night in their flight.
- Meaning
- As I string together my sorrowful thoughts one by one, the cries of wild geese pass across the sky, night after night.
- Commentary
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Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)
“Tsuranete” carries a double meaning: to string thoughts together, and for the geese to fly in a line. “Night after night” emphasizes the continued succession of sorrow.
It is not the geese but the poet who strings together these thoughts, perhaps seeing their own reflection in the geese that pass overhead, crying as they go.
- Author
- Oshikochi no Mitsune
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Akikaze ni koe o ho ni agete kuru fune wa
ama no to wataru kari ni zo arikeru - Next Poem
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Yamazato wa aki koso koto ni wabishikere
shika no naku ne ni me o samashitsutsu