天の川安の川原定而
神競者磨待無
神競者磨待無
- Roma-ji
-
Amanogawa yasu no kawara [unread] [unread] [unread]
- English Translation
-
The Heavenly River,
by the Yasu riverbank
[the line is unread]
[the line is unread]
[the line is unread]
- Meaning
- On the riverbank of Yasu by the Heavenly River (the reading of the third line onward is uncertain).
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2033
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
This poem sings of the Yasu riverbank of the Heavenly River, but from the third line on it remains in its original Chinese-character notation and has no settled reading, a so-called difficult-to-read poem. The source's kana line also gives no reading for these lines, so the source's transcription is presented as it stands. The left note says that this poem was composed in the year kanoe-tatsu, thought to correspond to the ninth year of Emperor Tenmu (680), making it a valuable record of when Tanabata poems were composed.
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.
Like 2000, it sings of "Yasu" of the Heavenly River, the Ame no Yasukawa of Japanese myth, showing the Tanabata legend overlaid with Japanese mythology. It stands as the last of the Tanabata poems from the Hitomaro Collection.
The first line, "the Heavenly River," names the river of heaven dividing the two stars, a word repeated throughout the series.
The second line, "the Yasu riverbank," names the riverbank of the Ame no Yasukawa of myth; like "the Yasu crossing" in 2000, it overlays a mythic place name on the Tanabata setting.
The third line, "定而," has no settled reading; it is thought to include the sense of "determining."
The fourth line, "神競者," has no settled reading; some see it as concerning a contest among the gods.
The last line, "磨待無," also has no settled reading. Together with the preceding lines it forms the unread portion, and its meaning remains undetermined.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Manyoshu
- Prev Poem
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Hitotose ni nanuka no yo nomi au hito no koi mo sugineba yo wa fukeyuku mo
- Next Poem
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Tanabata no iohata tatete oru nuno no akisarigoromo tare ka torimimu