Ama no kawa seze no shiranami takakeredo tada watarikinu matsu ni kurushimi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

天の河瀬々の白波高けれど
ただ渡り来ぬ待つに苦しみ

Roma-ji: Ama no kawa seze no shiranami takakeredo tada watarikinu matsu ni kurushimi
English Translation: The River of Heaven,
the white waves on all its shallows
rise up high, and yet
straight across I came to you,
pained so long by waiting
Meaning: The white waves of the River of Heaven stand high on every shallow, yet I came straight across, so pained was I by waiting.
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems I 243

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on Tanabata."
The poet says that though the white waves stand high on every shallow of the River of Heaven, unable to bear the pain of waiting, he came straight across. It expresses the strength of the Herdsman's longing, which heeds no danger in his impatience to meet.
From 239 to 247, nine Tanabata poems stand under the headnote "Composed on Tanabata," taking up from many angles the meeting of the Weaver Maid and the Herdsman across the River of Heaven.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Ama no kawa," means "the River of Heaven."
The second line, "seze no shiranami," means "the white waves on all the shallows," the waves that hinder the crossing.
The third line, "takakeredo," means "though they are high," giving a definite concession.
In the fourth line, "nu" is the completive auxiliary: "I have come straight across." The poem pauses here. Where 241, two poems back, sang of the wish to cross with "tada watarinan," this poem sings of the crossing completed.
The last line, "matsu ni kurushimi," means "pained by waiting," standing in inversion with the fourth line and giving afterward the reason for the crossing.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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