Kumoi tobu kari no ne chikaki sumai ni mo nao tamazusa wa kakezu ya arikemu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

雲居飛ぶ雁の音近き住まひにも
なほ玉章はかけずやありけむ

Roma-ji: Kumoi tobu kari no ne chikaki sumai ni mo nao tamazusa wa kakezu ya arikemu
English Translation: Though where I dwell now
the cries of geese that fly
through the clouds are near,
even so, it seems, no letter
have you sent along with them.
Meaning: Even though I live where the cries of geese flying through the clouds sound close by, it seems you still have sent me no letter.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems III 1721

Headnote: "Sent to someone who had long failed to visit, when I was living outside the capital."
A poem by one living away from the capital. Though she dwells where the cries of the geese sound close at hand, it seems he has still sent no letter. According to the headnote, she sent it, while living outside the capital, to someone from whom she had long heard nothing, and it gently voices her reproach at his silence.
The author, "Consort Princess Kishi," is Princess Kishi. A daughter of Prince Shigeakira, son of Emperor Daigo, she served as Ise Priestess and then became a consort of Emperor Murakami, being called the Priestess Consort. She is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

The first line, "kumoi tobu," means "flying high through the clouds." Taking up the clouds of the preceding poems, the word "kumoi" continues in poems by those away from the capital.
The second line, "kari no ne chikaki," means "where the cries of geese are near." Geese were thought to carry news from afar, and the image evokes both the loneliness of a dwelling outside the capital and the hope of a letter.
The third line, "sumai ni mo," means "even in such a dwelling." "Ni mo" carries the feeling "though the geese are so near."
In the fourth line, "nao tamazusa wa," "tamazusa" is an elegant word for a letter. Geese and letters are paired from the old tale of geese carrying messages.
The last line, "kakezu ya arikemu," closes the kakari-musubi of "ya" with the attributive form of the past conjectural "kemu." Asking whether he really sent no letter, it softly reproaches his coldness.
Author: Princess Kishi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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