Waga sode ni tsuyu zo oku naru ama no kawa kumo no shigarami nami ya kosuran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

わが袖に露ぞ置くなる天の河
雲のしがらみ波や越すらん

Roma-ji: Waga sode ni tsuyu zo oku naru ama no kawa kumo no shigarami nami ya kosuran
English Translation: Upon my sleeves now
the dew, it seems, has settled—
the River of Heaven,
over its weir of clouds,
are its waves spilling across
Meaning: Dew seems to have settled on my sleeves—are the waves of the River of Heaven spilling over its weir of clouds?
Commentary: Book Six Autumn Poems II 303

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet wonders whether the dew that seems to settle on the sleeves comes from waves of the River of Heaven spilling over a weir of clouds. It is a poem of grand imagination, seeing dew on earth as spray overflowing from the River of Heaven.
Poems on dew continue after this in the book. 242 of Book Five likewise sees the white dew of autumn as the tears of the Weaver Maid, longing 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, "Waga sode ni," means "on my sleeves."
In the second line, "naru" is the attributive form of the auxiliary of inference "nari," forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the particle "zo": "dew seems to be settling." The poem pauses here.
The third line, "ama no kawa," means "the River of Heaven," echoing the sequence of Tanabata poems in Book Five.
The fourth line, "kumo no shigarami," likens the clouds to a weir that holds back a river's flow. 329 of this book also sings of a weir on the River of Heaven in "ama no kawa shigarami kakete."
In the last line, "ya" is an interrogative particle forming a kakarimusubi pattern with the attributive "ran": "are the waves spilling over?"
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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