Karigane no kaeru o kikeba wakareji wa kumoi haruka ni omou bakari zo - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

雁がねの帰るを聞けば別れ路は
雲居遥かに思ふばかりぞ

Roma-ji: Karigane no kaeru o kikeba wakareji wa kumoi haruka ni omou bakari zo
English Translation: When I hear the geese
calling as they journey home,
the road of parting
seems to me as far away
as the distant clouds above.
Meaning: When I hear the wild geese calling as they return north, the road of our parting seems only as far away as the distant clouds.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 304

Headnote: "When people gathered at the house of one setting out on a journey, taking up the earthen wine cup"
Hearing the wild geese calling as they return north, the poet says that the road of parting from the traveler seems as distant as the clouds. Onto the long journey of the geese returning in spring he lays the distance of the road that will now separate them. According to the headnote, it was composed when people gathered at the house of one setting out on a journey and took up the farewell cup.
The author, written as Sone no Yoshitada in kana, is Sone no Yoshitada. Called Sotan from his post as a junior official of Tango, he was a mid-Heian poet known for his collection Maitsukishū, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Later Immortal Poets.

First line, "karigane no," means "of the wild geese," the geese that return north in spring. Geese also appear in 345 and 353 of this book, recurring through the book in connection with journeys and messages.
Second line, "kaeru o kikeba," means "when I hear them returning." Against the traveler's going, it sets the geese's returning.
Third line, "wakareji wa," means "the road of parting."
Fourth line, "kumoi haruka ni," means "as far away as the distant clouds." It shares with "the clouds that separate us" in 311 of this book the cloud as something that divides at a distance.
Final line, "omou bakari zo," means "it seems only so," with "zo" a sentence-final particle of emphasis.
Author: Sone no Yoshitada
Source: Shui Wakashu
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