Even the wild geese
that have left the eternal
land for strange sky here
take some comfort while they keep
from falling out of the line

Meaning

Even geese that have left the eternal land for a traveller's sky take comfort so long as they do not fall out of the line.

Commentary

Part One: Suma

　The former Lieutenant of the Right followed with this poem. He was the man who had declined to go with his father to his post in Hitachi and joined Genji's retinue instead. He seems to have had his own private misgivings, but he carried himself proudly and went about his work as though nothing troubled him. He added that he did not know what it would be like to lose one's companions.

　"Tokoyo" takes up the previous poem's word, showing that all four share the same image. "The traveller's sky" carries over from Genji's poem. "Not falling behind the line" is staying with one's fellows, that is, staying with his lord. That the only comfort is in not being alone states the solidarity of the retainers exactly, and makes a fitting close to the four.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Even the wild geese that have left the eternal land for strange sky here take some comfort while they keep from falling out of the line

Even the wild geese
that have left the eternal
land for strange sky here
take some comfort while they keep
from falling out of the line