Komu to shimo tanomenu uwa no sora ni dani akikaze fukeba kari wa kinikeri

来むとしも頼めぬうはの空にだに
秋風吹けば雁は来にけり

Roma-ji: Komu to shimo tanomenu uwa no sora ni dani akikaze fukeba kari wa kinikeri
English Translation: Into the high sky
that was promised no return,
even so, when blows
the wind of autumn, look:
the wild geese have come.
Meaning: Even into the empty sky, which was never promised their coming, the wild geese have arrived once the autumn wind began to blow.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 603

Headnote: "Someone who had gone to a distant province said they would return around the eighth month, but by the ninth had not appeared, so I sent this to them"
Someone who had gone to a distant province promised to return in the eighth month but had not appeared by the ninth, and the poet sent this poem. Even the wild geese, who promised nothing, come to the sky when the autumn wind blows, yet you who promised have not come; it gently reproaches the one who has not returned.
The Ruijū text places it in its love section and reads line 1 as kotoshi mo.

Line 1 means "that they would come," shimo intensive.
Line 2 means "not given to trust," leading into uwa no sora.
Line 3 means "even to the sky," dani implying the greater case; uwa no sora means both the upper sky and a fickle heart.
Line 4 means "when the autumn wind blows."
Line 5 means "the geese have come," keri expressing realization. It shares its last line with the next poem, 604, the two contrasting geese that come with a person who does not.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
Prev Poem: Yama tōmi kumoi ni kari no koete inaba ware nomi hitori ne ni ya nakinamu
Next Poem: Ima komu to tanomeshi hito wa mienaku ni akikaze samumi kari wa kinikeri