Kumoi naru kari dani nakite kuru aki ni nadoka wa hito no otozure mo senu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

雲居なる雁だに鳴きて来る秋に
などかは人の訪れもせぬ

Roma-ji: Kumoi naru kari dani nakite kuru aki ni nadoka wa hito no otozure mo senu
English Translation: The wild geese that fly
high among the clouds come calling
in the autumn time—
why then is it that the one
I long for does not come?
Meaning: In autumn even the wild geese flying high among the clouds come calling; why is it, then, that you do not come to me?
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1416

Headnote: "Bestowed on the Lady Ben, a consort who had not come to court for a long time."
This is the sixth poem of the sequence on sky and clouds. In autumn, when even the geese passing through the sky come calling, the emperor reproaches a consort who has long stayed away, asking why she does not come. According to the headnote, the emperor bestowed it on the Lady Ben, a consort who had long stayed away from court.
The author, "Poem of the Engi Era," is Emperor Daigo. A son of Emperor Uda, he took the throne as the sixtieth sovereign, and his reign was praised as the Engi rule. He was the emperor who ordered the compilation of the Kokinshū.
The Lady Ben was a consort of Emperor Daigo called Ben. Kōi was the rank of imperial consort below nyōgo.

The first line, "kumoi naru," means "high in the sky." It begins with the same word as "kumoi yori," the first line of the preceding poem, placing the two side by side.
In the second line, "kari dani nakite," "dani" means "even." The wild geese were held to carry messages from afar.
The third line, "kuru aki ni," means "though it is autumn when they come." The poem breaks after the third line.
In the fourth line, "nadoka wa hito no," "nadoka wa" presses the question "why?"
The last line, "otozure mo senu," answers "nadoka wa" with an attributive ending: "does not even come." The geese that come calling from afar are set against the person who is near yet does not come. Where the preceding poem sang of the faintness of a distant bird's voice, this one says birds come but people do not, using the same birds of the sky to press its question.
Author: Emperor Daigo
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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