Kazekumo wa futatsu no kishi ni kayoedomo waga tōzuma no koto zo kayowanu

風雲は二つの岸に通へども
我が遠妻の言ぞ通はぬ

Roma-ji: Kazekumo wa futatsu no kishi ni kayoedomo waga tōzuma no koto zo kayowanu
English Translation: The wind and the clouds
between the two riverbanks
pass freely, and yet
from my wife so far away
not a word comes through to me
Meaning: The wind and clouds pass freely between the two banks, yet no word from my distant wife ever crosses to me.
Commentary: Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1521

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Twelve poems on the Tanabata festival by Yamanoue no Omi Okura," envoy to the long poem
From the standpoint of the Herdsman, the poet laments that while wind and clouds pass freely between the banks of the River of Heaven, only the words of his distant wife never reach him. It is the envoy to the long poem 1520, taking up the long poem's portrayal of the Herdsman longing for the once-a-year meeting. The note says, "The above: on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month of Tenpyō 1 (729), Okura gazed up at the River of Heaven [one source says it was composed at the Governor-General's house]."
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 original text contains a note giving a variant, "my beloved wife," for the fourth line; as it is not part of the poem, it has been removed, and the text's reading is followed.

The first line names the wind and clouds that move freely over the River of Heaven.
The second line means "between the two banks."
The third line, with the concessive "domo," means "though they pass."
The fourth line names his distant wife, the Weaver Maiden.
The final line forms a kakari-musubi between "zo" and "nu," the attributive of the negative "zu," lamenting strongly that her words do not come. Setting "kayoe" in the third line against "kayowa" in the last, it sharpens the gap: nature passes freely, but human words do not.
Author: Yamanoue no Okura
Source: Manyoshu
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