In what spring shall I
go and look upon the home
I came from once more—
the ones I envy are these
wild geese that are going back

Meaning

In what spring shall I go and see my home again? What I envy are these geese, going back.

Commentary

Part One: Suma

　The Third Rank Captain, now a Consultant, came to Suma knowing he might be censured for it. They talked the night through and composed verses, but out of caution he had to leave in haste. Seeing geese crossing the dawn sky together, Genji, as host, spoke this poem. The Consultant answered, saying how hard he found it to go.

　"Furusato" is the place he comes from—the capital. "In what spring?" says there is no prospect of return. "The geese going back" marks the season as spring and sets against him creatures who can return. It pairs with the earlier scene of the geese arriving in autumn, so that a year at Suma is measured out by them.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

At a dawn like this, when the plovers with their friends cry all in one voice, even a bed where I wake alone seems something to trust
With no season to it, I long for the people of the great palace, and now the day has come round when we wore the cherry sprays
Not having had my fill, I part from this dwelling of the geese and go— shall I lose my way upon the road to the flowered town
You cranes that fly and cross up there so near the clouds, look down from the sky: I am a man as free of cloud as a day in springtime

In what spring shall I go and look upon the home I came from once more— the ones I envy are these wild geese that are going back

In what spring shall I
go and look upon the home
I came from once more—
the ones I envy are these
wild geese that are going back