Hikoboshi no kazashi no tama no tsumagoi ni midare ni kerashi kono kawa no se ni

彦星のかざしの玉の妻恋ひに
乱れにけらしこの川の瀬に

Roma-ji: Hikoboshi no kazashi no tama no tsumagoi ni midare ni kerashi kono kawa no se ni
English Translation: The Herdsman Star's
jewels that adorned his hair,
in longing for his wife,
it seems have scattered in disarray
here in the shallows of this stream.
Meaning: It seems the jewels in the Herdsman Star's hair have come loose and scattered in his longing for his wife—here, in the shallows of this river.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1686

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed by Hashihito no Sukune on the banks of the Izumi River"
The white spray scattering over the shallows is imagined as the jewels of the Herdsman Star's hair, loosened in his longing for the Weaver Maid. Overlaying the earthly river with the River of Heaven, the poem draws on the Tanabata legend for a brilliant conceit.
This is the second of the two poems by Hashihito no Sukune at the Izumi River. The question raised in the preceding poem about the churning shallows is answered here through the Tanabata legend.
The author, Hashihito no Sukune, belonged to the Hashihito family, but his given name is not recorded. Some identify him with Hashihito no Ōura.

The first line, "the Herdsman Star's," refers to Altair, which meets the Weaver Star across the River of Heaven once a year.
The second line, "jewels that adorned his hair," names the ornaments set in his hair.
The third line, "in longing for his wife," gives the cause of their scattering.
The fourth line, "it seems have scattered in disarray," pauses the poem. It takes up "scattered here in wild confusion" from 1685 and uses the same conjectural ni kerashi as "the tide, it seems, has ebbed" in 1671.
The final line, "here in the shallows of this stream," gives the place at the end in inversion. It echoes the opening "the rapids of the river" of the preceding poem, so the pair begins and ends in the river shallows.
Author: Hashihito no Sukune
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Kawa no se no tagitsu o mireba tamamo kamo chiri midaretaru kawa no tsune kamo
Next Poem: Shiratori no sagisakayama no matsukage ni yadorite yukana yo mo fukeyuku o