Miredo akanu hana no sakari ni kaeru kari nao furusato no haru ya koishiki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

見れど飽かぬ花の盛りに帰る雁
なほ故里の春や恋しき

Roma-ji: Miredo akanu hana no sakari ni kaeru kari nao furusato no haru ya koishiki
English Translation: At the height of bloom
that no one could tire of seeing,
you returning geese,
is it still the spring of home
that you find you long for so?
Meaning: Wild geese, flying home at the height of blossoms no one could tire of, do you still long for the spring of your homeland?
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems 55

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet asks the wild geese departing north at the height of the blossoms, which no one could tire of seeing, whether they still long more for the spring of their homeland. In the wonder at geese that abandon the flowers, the poet's own love of blossoms shows through.

First line, "miredo akanu," means "never tiring of the sight," and has an extra syllable.
Second line, "hana no sakari ni," means "at the height of the blossoms."
Third line, "kaeru kari," names the geese returning north in spring, and the poem pauses after the third line. The next poem also sings of the returning geese, and the two stand together.
Fourth line, "nao furusato no," refers to the northern lands that are the geese's home. Whereas the "furusato" of poems 48 and 49 of this book is an old village where people lived, here it is the geese's homeland.
Final line, "haru ya koishiki," closes in the attributive "koishiki" in response to "ya."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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