妹がりと我が行く道の川しあれば
つくめ結ぶと夜ぞ更けにける
つくめ結ぶと夜ぞ更けにける
- Roma-ji
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Imogari to waga yuku michi no kawa shi areba tsukume musubu to yo zo fukenikeru
- English Translation
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To where my wife waits,
on the road I travel on,
since a river runs,
as I tied the tsukume fast,
the night has grown late indeed
- Meaning
- On the road I take to my wife there is a river, and while I was tying the tsukume, the night has grown late.
- Commentary
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Book Eight Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 1546
Headnote: "A poem on the Tanabata festival by Prince Ichihara"
From the standpoint of the Herdsman, the poem says that because there is a river on the road to his wife, the night has grown late while he was tying the tsukume to prepare for the crossing. It conveys the frustration of losing time to the trouble of crossing just before the meeting.
The author, Prince Ichihara, was a son of Prince Aki and a member of the imperial family in the Nara period. He served as Director of the Office for the Construction of Tōdaiji, among other posts.
The first line means "to my wife's place."
The second line means "of the road I take."
The third line, with the emphatic "shi," gives the reason: "since there is a river." It refers to the River of Heaven.
In the fourth line, the meaning of "tsukume" is uncertain; it is said to be something to tie up a boat or raft, or a device for crossing a river.
The final line forms a kakari-musubi between "zo" and "keru," lamenting that the night has grown late. Prince Yuhara's 1544 before it likewise sings "as the night grows ever later" of the deepening Tanabata night.
- Author
- Prince Ichihara
- Source
- Manyoshu
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