故郷をいづれの春か行きて見む
うらやましきは帰る雁がね
うらやましきは帰る雁がね
- Roma-ji
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Furusato o izure no haru ka yukite mimu
urayamashiki wa kaeru kari ga ne - English Translation
-
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
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