秋来れば川霧わたる天の河
川上見つつ恋ふる日の多き
川上見つつ恋ふる日の多き
- Roma-ji
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Aki kureba kawagiri wataru ama no kawa kawakami mitsutsu kouru hi no ōki
- English Translation
-
When autumn comes round,
the river mists drift across
the River of Heaven,
and gazing upstream I long—
how many such days there are
- Meaning
- When autumn comes, river mist spreads over the River of Heaven, and how many are the days I spend gazing upstream, longing for you.
- Commentary
-
Book Five Autumn Poems I 244
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on Tanabata."
The poet says that when autumn comes, many are the days spent gazing toward the upper reaches of the River of Heaven, shrouded in river mist, and longing. Gazing toward the upstream reaches hazed in mist, it conveys the long days of waiting for the day of meeting.
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, "Aki kureba," means "when autumn comes," with "ba" giving a definite condition. 262 of this book opens with the same line, "aki kureba."
The second line, "kawagiri wataru," means "where river mist spreads across."
The third line, "ama no kawa," means "the River of Heaven"; while other poems of the sequence put it in the first line, this poem places it in the third.
The fourth line, "kawakami mitsutsu," means "gazing upstream," with "tsutsu" expressing continuation. "Kawagiri" and "kawakami" repeat the word "kawa," river.
The last line, "kouru hi no ōki," means "how many the days of longing," ending on the attributive form of an adjective to express a sigh.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Ama no kawa seze no shiranami takakeredo tada watarikinu matsu ni kurushimi
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Ama no kawa koishiki se ni zo watarinuru tagitsu namida ni sode wa nuretsutsu