Amanogawa mizukagegusa no akikaze ni nabikau mireba toki wa kinikeri

天の川水蔭草の秋風に
靡かふ見れば時は来にけり

Roma-ji: Amanogawa mizukagegusa no akikaze ni nabikau mireba toki wa kinikeri
English Translation: The Heavenly River's
grasses in the water's shade
in the autumn wind
when I see them sway and bend,
then I know the time has come.
Meaning: When I see the grasses in the shade by the waters of the Heavenly River swaying in the autumn wind, I know the time has come.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2013

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
This poem knows that the time of meeting has come upon seeing the grasses by the waters of the Heavenly River bend in the autumn wind. Like 1812 at the head of the book, which knew spring by the haze, it knows the season's arrival by a sign in the scenery, and here the autumn wind announces the time of Tanabata.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet of the Asuka period, active under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. The left note records that this poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, and it is uncertain whether it is Hitomaro's own work or a poem by someone else that he recorded.

The first line, "the Heavenly River," names the river dividing the stars.
The second line, "of the grasses in the water's shade," names the waterside plants.
The third line, "in the autumn wind," marks the arrival of the Tanabata season.
In the fourth line, "nabikau mireba," "nabikau" means to go on swaying and "ba" is an established condition.
In the last line, "toki wa kinikeri," "keri" expresses realization, closing with joy at noticing that the time has come.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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