Sorairo no konata o ura ni tatsu kiri no omote ni kari no kakuru tamazusa

空色のこなたを裏に立つ霧の
表に雁の掛くる玉章

Roma-ji: Sorairo no konata o ura ni tatsu kiri no omote ni kari no kakuru tamazusa
English Translation: With the sky's own hue
on this side as its lining,
the rising mist's
outer face is where the geese
hang their letter for me to read.
Meaning: The rising mist, lined on this side with the color of the sky, is a sheet on whose outer face the wild geese hang their letter.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 424

Headnote: "Wild geese above the mist"
The topic is wild geese flying above the mist. The rising mist is likened to a sheet of paper whose near side, colored like the sky, is its lining, and on its outer face the geese, crossing in their line, seem to be writing a letter. It is a witty poem likening the mist to paper and the line of geese to the characters of a letter.
It is the third poem, after 421 and 423, likening the geese to a letter, and here the mist itself is likened to paper, with ura and omote, back and front, as its two sides. The mist that hid the geese in the preceding poem becomes here the paper on which the geese write.

First line, “sorairo no”: the color of the sky.
Second line, “konata o ura ni”: konata is this side, the side colored like the sky taken as the lining.
Third line, “tatsu kiri no”: of the rising mist, likened to a sheet of paper.
Fourth line, “omote ni kari no”: on the outer face of the mist the geese, paired with ura in the second line.
Fifth line, “kakuru tamazusa”: ending on a noun; kakuru is the attributive of kaku, to hang, the letter the geese write by hanging their line across.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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