霞立つ天の川原に君待つと
い行き帰るに裳の裾濡れぬ
い行き帰るに裳の裾濡れぬ
- Roma-ji
-
Kasumi tatsu ama no kawara ni kimi matsu to iyuki kaeru ni mo no suso nurenu
- English Translation
-
Where the haze rises,
on the riverbed of Heaven,
waiting there for you,
as I paced back and forth,
the hem of my skirt got soaked
- Meaning
- On the riverbed of Heaven where the haze is rising, pacing back and forth as I waited for you, I have soaked the hem of my skirt.
- Commentary
-
Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1528
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 poem says that on the hazy riverbed of Heaven, too impatient to stand still as she waited for the Herdsman, she paced back and forth until the hem of her skirt was soaked. In the figure restlessly walking the riverbank, the excitement of awaiting the meeting is conveyed.
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 presents the rising haze. Taking up the "mist" of the preceding poem, it catches the same riverbed scene as haze.
The second line repeats the words of the preceding poem's fourth line, so both poems share the same setting.
The third line means "saying I wait for you."
In the fourth line, "i" is a prefix, and the line means "as I went back and forth."
The final line, with the perfective "nu," states that her hem is soaked, showing in a concrete image how long she has waited.
- Author
- Yamanoue no Okura
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Hikoboshi no tsumamukaebune kogizurashi ama no kawara ni kiri no tateru wa
- Next Poem
-
Amanogawa ukitsu no namioto sawaku nari waga matsu kimi shi funade surashi mo