Aki goto ni kuredo kaereba tanomanu o koe ni tatetsutsu kari to nomi naku - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

秋ごとに来れど帰ればたのまぬを
声に立てつつかりとのみ鳴く

Roma-ji: Aki goto ni kuredo kaereba tanomanu o koe ni tatetsutsu kari to nomi naku
English Translation: Each autumn they come,
yet since they go home again
I never count on them—
still they keep crying aloud
nothing but "kari, kari"
Meaning: Each autumn they come, yet because they go home again I never count on them; still they keep crying aloud nothing but "kari"—"only for a while."
Commentary: Book Seven Autumn Poems III 363

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that the wild geese come every autumn but go home again, so the poet does not count on them, and yet they make a point of crying aloud nothing but "kari." The geese that will surely leave are overlaid with a lover who comes and then goes away again.
Following the preceding poem, it too hears the geese's cry as "kari," transient.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Aki goto ni," means "every autumn." 435 of this book opens with the same words, "aki goto ni," and also sings of wild geese.
The second line, "kuredo kaereba," means "though they come, since they go back."
The third line, "tanomanu o," means "though I do not count on them," with "o" an adversative particle.
The fourth line, "koe ni tatetsutsu," means "crying it aloud."
In the last line, "kari" is a pivot word meaning both the "wild goose" and "kari," temporary: "they cry only 'kari.'" It is the same pivot word as in "karikari to naku," the last line of the preceding poem.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Yukikaeri koko mo kashiko mo tabi nare ya kuru aki goto ni karikari to naku
Next Poem: Hitasura ni waga omowanaku ni onore sae karikari to nomi nakiwataruran