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- Manyoshu
Kimi ni awazu hisashiki toki yu oru hata no shirotaegoromo aka tsuku made ni
The white robe I have been weaving on my loom ever since I last met you so long ago—it has grown soiled with waiting.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Amanogawa kaji no oto kikoyu hikoboshi to tanabatatsume to koyoi aurashi mo
I hear the sound of oars on the Heavenly River. It seems the Herdsman Star and the Weaver Maiden are to meet tonight.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Aki sareba kawagiri tateru amanogawa kawa ni mukiite kouru yo zo ōki
When autumn comes, river mist rises on the Heavenly River, and many are the nights I sit facing that river, longing.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Yoshieyashi tada narazu tomo nuedori no uranage ori to tsugemu ko mo ga mo
Well, let it be, even if we cannot meet face to face—if only there were a girl to tell her that I sit grieving in my heart like the nue bird.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Hitotose ni nanuka no yo nomi au hito no koi mo sugineba yo wa fukeyuku mo
For those who meet only on the night of the seventh day in a whole year, their longing is not yet spent, and still the night grows late.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Amanogawa yasu no kawara [unread] [unread] [unread]
On the riverbank of Yasu by the Heavenly River (the reading of the third line onward is uncertain).
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Tanabata no iohata tatete oru nuno no akisarigoromo tare ka torimimu
The autumn robes made from cloth the Weaver Maiden weaves on her countless looms—who will take them up and look at them?
Toshi ni arite ima ka makuramu nubatama no yogiri komoreru tōzuma no te o
Now, on this one night of the year, is he pillowing his head on the arm of his faraway wife, hidden in the black night mist?
Waga machishi aki wa kitarinu imo to are to nanigoto are zo himo tokazu aramu
The autumn I waited for has come at last—what reason could there be for my wife and me not to loosen our sashes?
Toshi no koi koyoi tsukushite asu yori wa tsune no gotoku ya aga koiioramu
Having spent a whole year's longing tonight, must I from tomorrow go back to longing just as always?
Awanaku wa kenagaki mono o amanogawa hedatete mata ya aga koiioramu
The days apart are so long—must I once again, with the Heavenly River between us, go on longing?
Koishikeku kenagaki mono o aubeku aru yoi dani kimi ga kimasazu aruramu
The days of longing are so long—so why is it that even on this evening when we are meant to meet, you do not come?
Hikoboshi to tanabatatsume to koyoi au ama no kawato ni nami tatsu na yume
Tonight the Herdsman Star and the Weaver Maiden meet—O waves, never rise at the crossing of the Heavenly River!
Akikaze no fukitadayowasu shirakumo wa tanabatatsume no amatsu hire ka mo
The white clouds that the autumn wind sets drifting—could they be the heavenly scarf of the Weaver Maiden?
Shibashiba mo aiminu kimi o amanogawa funade haya seyo yo no fukenu ma ni
You are one I can so seldom meet—so set your boat out quickly on the Heavenly River, before the night grows late.
Akikaze no kiyoki yūbe ni amanogawa fune kogiwataru tsukihitootoko
On an evening of clear autumn wind, the young man of the moon rows his boat across the Heavenly River.