Obotsukana kawari ya shinishi ama no gawa toshi ni hitotabi wataru se nareba - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

おぼつかな変はりやしにし天の川
年にひとたび渡る瀬なれば

Roma-ji: Obotsukana kawari ya shinishi ama no gawa toshi ni hitotabi wataru se nareba
English Translation: How uncertain it is!
Might it have changed by now,
the River of Heaven,
since only once in a year
do they cross its shallow ford?
Meaning: How uneasy it makes me! Might the fords of the River of Heaven have shifted? After all, the lovers cross them only once a year.
Commentary: Book Three Autumn Poems 89

Headnote: "Composed for the poetry contest held at the palace in the second year of Kanna"
This poem by Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu was composed for the palace poetry contest of Kanna 2 (986).
River fords shift with time, and the poet imagines that the stars who cross only once a year must be anxious whether last year's ford is still there. The ingenuity lies in expressing the long wait between meetings as a concrete worry about a changing ford.

The first line, "obotsukana," is an exclamation from the stem of an adjective meaning uneasy, and the poem pauses here.
The second line, "kawari ya shinishi," asks "might it have changed?" with ya marking the question and nishi expressing completion in the past.
The third line, "ama no gawa," names the River of Heaven, following the preceding poem, 88, continuing the Tanabata sequence.
The fourth line, "toshi ni hitotabi," means "only once a year," stressing how rare the meetings are.
The last line, "wataru se nareba," gives the reason, "since it is a ford they cross," added in inverted order.
Author: Onakatomi no Yoshinobu
Source: Shika Wakashu
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