Ama no gawa fuyu wa kōri ni tojitare ya ishima ni tagitsu oto dani mo senu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

天の川冬は氷に閉ぢたれや
石間にたぎつ音だにもせぬ

Roma-ji: Ama no gawa fuyu wa kōri ni tojitare ya ishima ni tagitsu oto dani mo senu
English Translation: The River of Heaven—
is it because in winter
it is sealed in ice?
Rushing among the stones,
not even a sound is heard
Meaning: Is it because in winter the River of Heaven is sealed in ice? Not even the sound of water rushing between the stones is heard.
Commentary: Book Eight Winter Poems 488

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet wonders whether the River of Heaven is sealed in ice in winter, for not even the sound of water rushing between the stones is heard. Treating the River of Heaven as freezing in winter like rivers on earth, the poem conveys its stillness.
It transfers to the River of Heaven the conceit of 477 in this book, which inferred ice from the silence of the Yoshino rapids. The freshness of the poem lies in singing as a winter scene of the River of Heaven, known from the Tanabata legend.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Ama no gawa," is the River of Heaven, the Milky Way, known from the Tanabata legend.
The second line, "fuyu wa kōri ni," means "in winter, in ice."
In the third line, "ya" is an interrogative particle: "is it because it is sealed?" Attaching "ya" to the perfective form asks the reason.
The fourth line, "ishima ni tagitsu," means "rushing between the stones."
In the last line, "dani" means "even": "not even a sound is made." It closes with the attributive "nu" in answer to "ya" in the third line.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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