Amanogawa tanahashi watase tanabata no iwatarasamu ni tanahashi watase

天の川棚橋渡せ織女の
い渡らさむに棚橋渡せ

Roma-ji: Amanogawa tanahashi watase tanabata no iwatarasamu ni tanahashi watase
English Translation: The Heavenly River—
build a shelf-plank bridge across!
The Weaver Maiden,
so that she may cross it there,
build a shelf-plank bridge across!
Meaning: Lay a plank bridge across the Heavenly River! So that the Weaver Maiden may cross, lay a plank bridge across!
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2081

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
This poem repeatedly wishes a plank bridge would be laid across the Heavenly River so the Weaver might cross. Repeating "tanahashi watase" in the second and last lines creates both urgency and a song-like rhythm. Like the plank-bridge poems 2056 and 2062, it wishes for a bridge over the Heavenly River, here a bridge for the Weaver to cross.

The first line, "the Heavenly River," names the river to be bridged.
In the second line, "tanahashi watase," "tanahashi" is a simple bridge of planks laid like a shelf and "watase" an imperative. The poem breaks here.
The third line, "of the Weaver," names the one to cross.
In the fourth line, "iwatarasamu ni," "i" is a prefix and "sa" the honorific "su": so that she may cross.
The last line, "tanahashi watase," repeats the second line, strengthening the plea at the close.
Source: Manyoshu
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