Karigane wa kaze ni kioite suguredomo waga matsu hito no kotozute mo nashi

English Translation

The wild geese fly by
racing with the wind as though
vying as they pass,
yet from the one I await
not a single word they bring

Meaning

The wild geese pass by, racing the wind, yet they bring no message from the one I am waiting for.

Commentary

Book Five Autumn Poems II 500

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the fourth poem of the wild goose sequence. The geese fly past, racing the wind, yet bring no word from the one awaited. The headnote, continued from the preceding poem, gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author is listed as "Anonymous," and the name is not known.
The scene is autumn as the geese migrate, at a dwelling where someone awaits a visit or a message.
The direct occasion is not recorded.

In the first line, "wa" marks the geese as the topic.
In the second line, "kioi" means to vie, showing the geese flying as fast as if racing the wind.
In the third line, "domo" is concessive: "though they pass by."
The fourth line means "of the one whose return or message I await."
In the last line, "kotozute" is a message. Though geese are said to carry letters, they bring none from the one awaited—a lament of disappointed hope. In 481 the traveler imagined geese telling him of home; here the one who waits laments the message the geese do not bring, pairing hope and disappointment. The waiting also recalls "unable to bear waiting for you" in 482.

Author

Unknown Poet

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

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