Hatsukari no hatsuka ni kikishi kotozute mo kumoji ni taete waburu koro kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

初雁のはつかに聞きしことづても
雲路に絶えてわぶる頃かな

Roma-ji: Hatsukari no hatsuka ni kikishi kotozute mo kumoji ni taete waburu koro kana
English Translation: Like the first wild geese,
faintly did I hear it once,
that message of yours;
now it breaks off in the clouds,
and these days I pine away
Meaning: Like the cry of the first wild geese, I heard your message only faintly, and now it has broken off on the paths of the clouds, and these days I pine away.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1418

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the eighth poem of the sequence on sky and clouds and closes it. The speaker laments that even the message heard faintly, like the first geese, has broken off on the paths of the clouds. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Former Minister of the Left of Nishinomiya," is Minamoto no Takaakira. A son of Emperor Daigo, he was given the Minamoto surname and rose to Minister of the Left, but was demoted to Provisional Governor-General of Dazaifu in the Anna Incident. He was called by this name because his residence was at Nishinomiya.

The first line, "hatsukari no," refers to the first geese to arrive that autumn. It takes up the "geese" of the two preceding poems. Through the overlap of sound between "hatsukari" and "hatsuka," it forms a preface leading to "hatsuka" in the second line.
The second line, "hatsuka ni kikishi," means "heard only faintly."
The third line, "kotozute mo," means "even the message entrusted to another." Geese were held to carry messages, and it is sung from that association.
The fourth line, "kumoji ni taete," means "breaking off on the paths through the clouds." The cloud paths where the geese fly are overlaid with the path of messages.
The last line, "waburu koro kana," closes with the exclamatory "kana": "these days I pine away." The sequence on sky and clouds that ran from 1411 closes with a message broken off on the cloud paths.
Author: Minamoto no Takaakira
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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