Ama no kawa wataramu sora mo omohoezu taenu wakare to omou mono kara - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

天の河渡らむ空もおもほえず
絶えぬ別れと思ふものから

Roma-ji: Ama no kawa wataramu sora mo omohoezu taenu wakare to omou mono kara
English Translation: The River of Heaven,
I cannot find the heart
to cross it now,
for I know it as a parting
that will never cease to come
Meaning: I cannot bring myself to cross the River of Heaven, knowing that the parting waiting there will never cease.
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems I 226

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says she cannot bring herself to cross the River of Heaven, for each meeting brings a parting, and that parting will recur year after year without end. In the guise of the Weaver Maid, it expresses a heart that thinks first of the pain of parting rather than the joy of meeting.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the author as "yomihito mo," but it is treated here as anonymous.

The first line, "Ama no kawa," names the River of Heaven that separates the Weaver Maid and the Herdsman. Many Tanabata poems opening with the River of Heaven follow in this book.
In the second line, "mu" is an auxiliary of intent, and "sora" means "frame of mind": "even the heart to cross." It also calls to mind the sky where the River of Heaven flows.
The third line, "omohoezu," means "I cannot feel it," and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "taenu wakare to," means "that it is a parting that never ceases," expressing the parting that comes without fail each year.
In the last line, "mono kara" is a conjunctive particle meaning here "since I think." In inversion with the upper verses, it gives afterward the reason for her reluctance to cross. 250 of this book closes with the same last line, "omou mono kara."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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