Akihagi ni nioeru waga mo nurenu tomo kimi ga mifune no tsuna shi toriteba

秋萩ににほへる我が裳濡れぬとも
君が御船の綱し取りてば

Roma-ji: Akihagi ni nioeru waga mo nurenu tomo kimi ga mifune no tsuna shi toriteba
English Translation: My skirt glowing
with the hues of autumn clover,
let it be soaked through,
if only I may take in hand
the mooring rope of your boat
Meaning: Let my skirt, tinted bright with autumn bush clover, be soaked through, if only I can take in my hands the mooring rope of your boat.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3656

Headnote: "Three poems composed on the Tanabata night, gazing up at the River of Heaven, each expressing his thoughts"
Taking the part of the Weaver Maiden, he sings that she does not mind if her skirt, tinted with autumn bush clover, is soaked, if only she can take in hand the mooring rope of the Herdsman's boat. Borrowing the heart of the Weaver Maiden longing for their once-a-year meeting, it holds his own wish to be reunited with his wife in the capital. A left note reads "the above poem is by the ambassador," the head of the embassy.
The author, Abe no Tsugumaro, was the ambassador of the embassy to Silla, appointed in the eighth year of Tenpyō. On the way home from Silla, he died on Tsushima in the following, ninth year of Tenpyō.
According to the headnote, this is one of three poems composed on the night of Tanabata, each expressing his thoughts while gazing up at the River of Heaven. The embassy greeted the seventh day of the seventh month at the Tsukushi lodge, and it was becoming clear that the promise made at departure, to return in autumn, could no longer be kept.

First line, "akihagi ni": the bush clover that blooms in autumn, showing the skirt dyed by its color.
Second line, "nioeru waga mo": "niou" means to glow with beautiful color, and "ru" is the attributive of the continuative "ri": my skirt beautifully tinted by the clover. The "mo" is a skirt worn from the waist down, the Weaver Maiden's attire.
Third line, "nurenu tomo": "nu" is perfective and "tomo" a concessive conditional: even if it is soaked.
Fourth line, "kimi ga mifune no": "kimi" is the Herdsman, and the boat is the one crossing the River of Heaven.
Fifth line, "tsuna shi toriteba": "shi" is emphatic, and "teba" is the irrealis of the perfective "tsu" plus "ba," a hypothetical condition: if only I can take the rope. It breaks off before the implied "I would not mind," leaving a lingering resonance.
Author: Abe no Tsugumaro
Source: Manyoshu
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