Aki no yo ni kari ka mo nakite wataru nari waga omou hito no kotozute ya seshi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋の夜に雁かも鳴きて渡るなり
わが思ふ人の言づてやせし

Roma-ji: Aki no yo ni kari ka mo nakite wataru nari waga omou hito no kotozute ya seshi
English Translation: In the autumn night
it seems the wild geese are crying
as they cross the sky—
the one I hold in my heart,
did she send some word by them
Meaning: On this autumn night the wild geese seem to cry as they cross the sky—did the one I love send me some message by them?
Commentary: Book Seven Autumn Poems III 356

Headnote: "When someone dear to him was in the region of Koshi."
Hearing the wild geese cry as they cross the autumn night sky, the poet wonders whether the beloved in the land of Koshi has sent a message by them. It conveys the hope of word from someone far away, carried by the geese flying down from the north.
According to the headnote, it was composed when someone dear to the poet was in Koshi, the northern Hokuriku region. Drawing on the tale of the "goose messenger," in which geese carry letters, it links the geese coming from northern Koshi with tidings from afar.
The poet, called "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. A son of Ki no Mochiyuki, he was the leading compiler of the Kokin Wakashū and wrote its kana preface. He served as governor of Tosa among other posts, is known as the author of the Tosa Diary, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

The first line, "Aki no yo ni," means "on an autumn night."
In the second line, "ka mo" is an exclamation tinged with question: "the wild geese crying."
In the third line, "nari" is the auxiliary of inference from sound: "they seem to be crossing." The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "waga omou hito no," means "the one I love," pointing to the person in Koshi.
In the last line, "ya" is an interrogative particle and "shi" is the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki": "did she send a message?"
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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