Hisakata no amanokawase ni fune ukete koyoi ka kimi ga wagari kimasamu

久方の天の川瀬に舟浮けて
今夜か君が我がり来まさむ

Roma-ji: Hisakata no amanokawase ni fune ukete koyoi ka kimi ga wagari kimasamu
English Translation: In the far heavens,
on the River of Heaven's shoals,
floating out a boat,
will it be tonight, my love,
that you come across to me?
Meaning: Floating a boat on the shallows of the River of Heaven, will you come to me tonight at last?
Commentary: Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1519

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Twelve poems on the Tanabata festival by Yamanoue no Omi Okura"
From the standpoint of the Weaver Maiden, the poet waits anxiously, wondering whether the Herdsman will float his boat on the shallows of the River of Heaven and come to her tonight. The note says, "The above was composed on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month of Jinki 1 (724) at the residence of the Minister of the Left," so it was written at a Tanabata banquet at the house of Prince Nagaya.
The author, Yamanoue no Okura, was an official and poet of the early Nara period. He went to Tang China as a member of an embassy and later became governor of Chikuzen. He is known for poems that look closely at human life and society.

The first line, "hisakata no," is a pillow word for "heaven."
The second line means "on the shallows of the River of Heaven."
The third line, "floating a boat," pictures the Herdsman crossing the river by boat. The Herdsman's setting out by boat is sung again and again in the Tanabata sequence.
The fourth line, with the particle "ka," surmises "tonight, perhaps, you."
The final line forms a kakari-musubi, closing in the attributive of the conjectural "mu" in answer to the "ka" of the fourth line, as she waits: will you come to me?
Author: Yamanoue no Okura
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Amanogawa aimuki tachite aga koishi kimi kimasu nari himo toki makena
Next Poem: Kazekumo wa futatsu no kishi ni kayoedomo waga tōzuma no koto zo kayowanu