Ima wa shimo wakare mo surashi tanabata no ama no kawara ni tazu zo nakunaru

今はしも別れもすらし棚機の
天の河原に鶴ぞ鳴くなる

Roma-ji: Ima wa shimo wakare mo surashi tanabata no ama no kawara ni tazu zo nakunaru
English Translation: Now at last, it seems,
the time of parting has come—
from the Weaver's side,
on the riverbanks of stars,
I can hear the cranes cry out.
Meaning: Now, it seems, the hour of parting has come—on the riverbank of heaven where the Weaver Maid dwells, I hear the cranes cry.
Commentary: Autumn Poems 199

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
Hearing cranes cry on the riverbank of heaven, the poet infers that the time has now come for the two stars to part. The cranes that the two preceding poems wished silent and then wished to cry are at last heard here, closing the Tanabata sequence.
The Ruijū and Teika texts write line 3 in kana as tanabata no.

Line 1: shimo is emphatic, "now at last."
Line 2: rashi is a grounded inference, judging from the cranes' cries that the time of parting has come, and the poem pauses here.
Line 3 refers to the Weaver Maid at her loom.
Line 4 is the same as line 4 of 194; the riverbank where the autumn wind blew as the Herdboy awaited the meeting here becomes the place of parting.
Line 5 concludes the binding particle zo with naru, inferring from sound. The cranes of the two preceding poems are here heard actually crying.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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