天の河恋しき瀬にぞ渡りぬる
たぎつ涙に袖は濡れつつ
たぎつ涙に袖は濡れつつ
- Roma-ji
-
Ama no kawa koishiki se ni zo watarinuru tagitsu namida ni sode wa nuretsutsu
- English Translation
-
The River of Heaven,
through its shallows of longing
I have made my way,
and with tears that rush and churn
my sleeves are ever wet
- Meaning
- Across the River of Heaven, through the shallows of longing, I have made my way, my sleeves soaked all the while by rushing tears.
- Commentary
-
Book Five Autumn Poems I 245
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Composed on Tanabata."
The poet says he has crossed the shallows of longing in the River of Heaven, his sleeves soaked all the while by rushing tears. The tears of longing shed on the way to the meeting are likened to the rapids of the River of Heaven.
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."
In the second line, "se" layers a river shallow and the occasion of meeting the beloved. "Zo" is an emphatic particle.
The third line, "watarinuru," means "I have crossed," and "zo" in the second line with the attributive "nuru" forms a kakarimusubi pattern. The poem pauses here. Following "tada watarikinu" in 243, it again sings of the crossing completed.
In the fourth line, "tagitsu" means "to rush and churn": "with tears that rush." "Se" and "tagitsu" are associated words of "ama no kawa."
The last line, "sode wa nuretsutsu," means "my sleeves wet all the while," with "tsutsu" expressing continuation. It stands in inversion with the third line.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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Aki kureba kawagiri wataru ama no kawa kawakami mitsutsu kouru hi no ōki
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Tanabata no toshi to wa iwaji ama no kawa kumo tachiwatari iza midarenan