Furusato no kasumi tobiwake yuku kari wa tabi no sora ni ya haru o kurasamu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

故里の霞飛び分け行く雁は
旅の空にや春を暮らさむ

Roma-ji: Furusato no kasumi tobiwake yuku kari wa tabi no sora ni ya haru o kurasamu
English Translation: The geese that go off
cleaving through the haze toward
the old homeland's skies,
will they spend away their spring
in the open skies of travel?
Meaning: Will the geese that fly off, cleaving the haze toward their homeland, spend the whole of spring in the skies of their journey?
Commentary: Book One Spring Poems 56

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet imagines that the geese, cleaving through the spring haze as they fly north, must spend their spring under a traveler's sky. In the lot of geese who pass the season of blossoms on the road, the poem senses a loneliness.

First line, "furusato no," takes up the "furusato" of the preceding poem and indicates the homeland to which the geese return.
Second line, "kasumi tobiwake," depicts them flying as if parting the thick spring haze.
Third line, "yuku kari wa," presents the geese returning north as the subject.
Fourth line, "tabi no sora ni ya," means "in the sky of their journey," with "ya" resolved by "mu" in the final line.
Final line, "haru o kurasamu," means "will they pass the spring?" The poet feels for geese who spend spring in the skies of travel even as they head home.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Miredo akanu hana no sakari ni kaeru kari nao furusato no haru ya koishiki
Next Poem: Chirinubeki hana miru toki wa suga no ne no nagaki harubi mo mijikakarikeri