I sent this to the residence of someone, who had gone to a distant province, when they had said they’d return around the Eighth Month and there had been no sign of them by the Ninth.
| komu to shimo tanomenu uwa no sora ni dani akikaze fukeba kari wa kinikeri | That they would come, even I Do not expect of the heights of The heavens, but When the autumn wind has blown, The geese have arrived.[i] |
605
[i] See: Love carried on the wind. きくやいかにうはのそらなる風だにもまつにおとするならひありとは kiku ya ika ni / uwa no sora naru / kaze dani mo / matsu ni otosuru / narai ari to wa ‘Do you hear it? Well? / From the heavens’ heights / Even the wind, / To come whispering among the pines / Has grown accustomed.’ Kunaikyō (Shinkokinshū XIII: 1199); and: A poem from the poetry competition at Prince Koresada’s house. 秋風にはつかりがねぞきこゆなるたがたまづさをかけてきつらむ akikaze ni / hatsukari ga ne zo / kikoyunaru / ta ga tamazusa o / kaketekitsuran ‘On the autumn wind / Come the first goose cries. / I hear them; / Whose letters / Do they bring, I wonder?’ Ki no Tomonori (Kokinshū IV: 207)