Akikaze ni ima ka ima ka to himo tokite ura machioru ni tsuki katabukinu

秋風に今か今かと紐解きて
うら待ち居るに月かたぶきぬ

Roma-ji: Akikaze ni ima ka ima ka to himo tokite ura machioru ni tsuki katabukinu
English Translation: In the autumn wind,
wondering, is it now, now?
my sash I untied
and waited, waited at heart,
till the moon began to sink
Meaning: In the autumn wind I untied my sash, waiting at heart, wondering whether it would be now, now, until the moon sank low.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4311

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems on the Tanabata festival, eight poems."
In the autumn wind I untied my sash and waited at heart, now, now, until the moon sank: the poem sings, from the Weaver Maid's side, of the length of a night of waiting. In the sixth of the eight poems Yakamochi composed alone beneath the River of Heaven, the first poem's sash tied for the meeting is answered here by the figure waiting with sash untied, so the two echo within the set.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Junior Assistant Minister of Military Affairs.

The first line, "akikaze ni," is the same as the first line two poems earlier, repeating the season of the set.
The second line, "ima ka ima ka to," doubles the words to express impatience for the arrival.
The third line, "himo tokite," means untying the sash in readiness for the meeting, pairing with "himo wa musubishi," "I tied my sash," in the first poem of the set.
The fourth line, "ura machioru ni," uses ura, "heart": "while I kept waiting in my heart."
The closing line, "tsuki katabukinu," "the moon has sunk," with the perfective nu, shows through the scene that the night has deepened in the waiting.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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