Amanogawa nochi no kyō dani harukeki o itsu tomo shiranu funade kanashi na - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

天の川後の今日だにはるけきを
いつとも知らぬ船出悲しな

Roma-ji: Amanogawa nochi no kyō dani harukeki o itsu tomo shiranu funade kanashi na
English Translation: River of Heaven:
even next year's day like this
seems so far away,
yet your sailing, none knows when
you'll return, how sad it is.
Meaning: For the stars of the River of Heaven, even this day next year is far away; how sad, then, is your sailing, when no one knows when you will return.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Autumn Poems 1093

Headnote: "Sent to Jakushō when he boarded a ship on the seventh day of the seventh month to cross over to China"
The poet says that for the Tanabata stars even the same day next year, when they will meet again, is far away; how sad, then, is a sailing whose return no one can foresee. The headnote shows it was sent to Jakushō when he boarded a ship on the seventh day of the seventh month to cross to Song China. Jakushō was the name taken by Ōe no Sadamoto when he became a monk; he crossed to Song in Chōhō 5 (1003) and died there. Playing on a sailing on the day of Tanabata, it compares the two stars, who meet at least once a year, with a parting whose reunion cannot be foreseen.
The author, written as "Kintō, Captain of the Right Gate Guards," is Fujiwara no Kintō, son of the chancellor Fujiwara no Yoritada, called the Shijō Major Counselor. He compiled the Wakan Rōeishū and is held to have compiled the Shūishō, on which the Shūishū was based. Captain of the Right Gate Guards was his post at the time.

First line, "Amanogawa," is the same word as the first lines of 1088 and 1089 in this book, carrying on the stream of Tanabata poems.
Second line, "nochi no kyō dani," means "even this day next year," with "dani" a particle that names a lesser case to suggest a greater one.
Third line, "harukeki o," means "is far off, and yet," with "o" a concessive particle.
Fourth line, "itsu tomo shiranu," means "no one knows when you will return."
Final line, "funade kanashi na," means "how sad is the sailing," with "na" a particle of exclamation. From the image of the Tanabata stars crossing the River of Heaven by boat, it leads to the sailing for China.
Author: Fujiwara no Kintō
Source: Shui Wakashu
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