雁がねの雲居遥かに聞こえしは
今は限りの声にぞありける
今は限りの声にぞありける
- Roma-ji
-
Karigane no kumoi haruka ni kikoeshi wa ima wa kagiri no koe ni zo arikeru
- English Translation
-
The calls of geese
that I heard so far away
in the realm of clouds—
they were the voice that said
this was the very last
- Meaning
- The cry of the wild geese I heard far off among the clouds—it was a voice saying this was the end.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems III 777
Headnote: "Sent when someone close to her had stopped visiting and, beyond her wishes, she had only heard his voice, after which there was no word at all."
The poet says that the cry of the geese she heard far away in the clouds was the voice of farewell. She laments, through the cry of geese departing into the distance, that after hearing the voice of one who no longer visits, all word from him has ceased.
According to the headnote, after someone she knew stopped coming, she unexpectedly heard only his voice, and then again there was no word from him, so she sent this poem. The next poem, 778, is Prince Kanemi's reply.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Karigane no," means "the calling of wild geese."
The second line, "kumoi haruka ni," means "far off among the clouds," expressing the distance between them.
The third line, "kikoeshi wa," means "that I heard."
The fourth line, "ima wa kagiri no," means "of the very last." The first line of the next poem, 778, "ima wa tote," takes up these words.
The last line, "koe ni zo arikeru," means "was the voice," with "zo" an emphatic particle closing on the attributive "keru," a kakarimusubi pattern. It follows the same pattern as "mono ni zo arikeru" in the last line of 775 in this book.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Tsukubane no mine yori otsuru minanogawa koi zo tsumorite fuchi to narikeru
- Next Poem
-
Ima wa tote yukikaerinuru koe naraba oikaze nite mo kikoemashi ya wa