こひこひてあふ夜はこよひあまの河
きり立ちわたりあけずもあらなむ
きり立ちわたりあけずもあらなむ
- Roma-ji
-
Koikoite au yo wa koyoi ama no kawa
kiri tachiwatari akezu mo aranamu - English Translation
-
Longing, longing still,
the night we meet is tonight—
O Heaven’s River,
let the mist rise and linger,
and never let the dawn break.
- Meaning
- After longing and longing, the night we meet is tonight; O Heavenly River, let the mist rise thick and never let the dawn come.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)
Taking the voice of Orihime, who has longed for a full year, the poem expresses the wish that this long-awaited night of meeting Hikoboshi might never end.
The strong tone of “the night we meet is tonight” conveys the depth of her long-held longing.
The image of mist rising suggests that even if dawn comes, it will not be felt as morning.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Other
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- By Heaven’s River, you who keep the ferry there— if he crosses once, then hide away the oar, I pray, and do not let him return.
- Across Heaven’s River with crimson leaves for a bridge— is it for this that the Weaver Maid waits for autumn above all seasons to meet?
- Heaven’s River— not knowing the shallows, I traced the white-breaking waves; before I could cross it all, the dawn had already come.
- That pledged heart— how cruel it seems, that of hers; for Tanabata, to meet but once a year— can such a meeting be called meeting?