Wata no hara yae no shioji ni tobu kari no tsubasa no nami ni akikaze zo fuku

わたの原八重の潮路に飛ぶ雁の
翼の波に秋風ぞ吹く

Roma-ji: Wata no hara yae no shioji ni tobu kari no tsubasa no nami ni akikaze zo fuku
English Translation: Over the wide sea
on the eightfold paths of tide
the wild geese flying—
on the waves their wings are making
the autumn wind is blowing.
Meaning: Over the vast sea, on its far, many-layered paths of tide, the autumn wind blows on the waving wings of the flying geese.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 225

Headnote: "Geese over the sea"
The autumn wind blows on the wings of geese flying over the far sea-paths of the ocean, wings that heave like waves. Within a vast scene where sea and sky merge, the poet grandly captures the beating wings of the geese.
This poem was included in the Shinchokusen Wakashū. The Ruijū text gives the headnote as "Composed while passing along the seashore." Kamo no Mabuchi marked it with a circle.

Line 1, wata no hara, means the vast ocean.
Line 2 means "over the far, many-layered sea-paths." Poem 263 also sings of "the vast sea's eightfold sea-paths."
Line 3 refers to the geese crossing over the sea.
Line 4, "on the waves of their wings," overlays the waving motion of the wings with the waves of the sea.
Line 5 concludes the binding particle zo with the attributive fuku. It is the same last line as the preceding poem, 224; the wind that blew over the paddies there here blows on the wings of geese above the sea.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
Prev Poem: Kari no iru kadota no inaba uchisoyogi tasogaredoki ni akikaze zo fuku
Next Poem: Kokonoe no kumoi o wakete hisakata no tsuki no miyako ni kari zo nakunaru