Yorozu-yo ni Tazusawari ite Ai mi-domo, Omoi-sugu-beki Koi naranaku ni.

[_Though for a myriad ages we should remain hand-in-hand and face to face, our exceeding love could never come to an end.

(Why then should Heaven deem it necessary to part us?)_]

Waga tame to, Tanabata-tsume no, Sono yado ni, Oreru shirotai Nut ken kamo?

[_The white cloth which Tanabata has woven for my sake, in that dwelling of hers, is now, I think, being made into a robe for me._]

Shirak.u.mo no I-ho e kakurite T[=o]-kedomo, Yo-sarazu min Imo ga atari wa.

[_Though she be far-away, and hidden from me by five hundred layers of white cloud, still shall I turn my gaze each night toward the dwelling-place of my younger sister (wife)._]

Aki sareba Kawagiri tateru Amanogawa, Kawa ni muki-ite Kru[19] yo zo [=o]ki!

[Footnote 19: For _kofuru_.]

[_When autumn comes, and the river-mists spread over the Heavenly Stream, I turn toward the river, (and long); and the nights of my longing are many!_]

Hito-tose ni Nanuka no yo nomi Au-hito no-- Ko mo tsuki-neba Sayo zo ake ni keru!

[_But once in the whole year, and only upon the seventh night (of the seventh month), to meet the beloved person--and lo! The day has dawned before our mutual love could express itself!_[20]]

[Footnote 20: Or "satisfy itself." A literal rendering is difficult.]

Toshi no ko Koyo tsukus.h.i.te, Asu yori wa, Tsune no gotoku ya Waga ko oran.

[_The love-longing of one whole year having ended to-night, every day from to-morrow I must again pine for him as before!_]

Hikoboshi to Tanabata-tsume to Koyo au;-- Ama-no-Kawa to ni Nami tatsu-na yume!

[_Hikoboshi and Tanabata-tsume are to meet each other to-night;--ye waves of the River of Heaven, take heed that ye do not rise!_]

Aki-kaze no f.u.ki tadayowasu Shirak.u.mo wa, Tanabata-tsume no Amatsu hire kamo?

[_Oh! that white cloud driven by the autumn-wind--can it be the heavenly hire[21] of Tana-bata-tsume?_]

[Footnote 21: At different times, in the history of j.a.panese female costume, different articles of dress were called by this name. In the present instance, the _hire_ referred to was probably a white scarf, worn about the neck and carried over the shoulders to the breast, where its ends were either allowed to hang loose, or were tied into an ornamental knot. The _hire_ was often used to make signals with, much as handkerchiefs are waved to-day for the same purpose;--and the question uttered in the poem seems to signify: "Can that be Tanabata waving her scarf--to call me?" In very early times, the ordinary costumes worn were white.]

Shiba-shiba mo Ai minu kimi wo, Amanogawa Funa-de haya seyo Yo no f.u.kenu ma ni.

[_Because he is my not-often-to-be-met beloved, hasten to row the boat across the River of Heaven ere the night be advanced._]

Amanogawa Kiri tachi-watari Hikoboshi no Kaji no 'to kikoyu Yo no f.u.ke-yukeba.

[_Late in the night, a mist spreads over_] _the River of Heaven; and the sound of the oar[22] of Hikoboshi is heard._]

[Footnote 22: Or, "the creaking of the oar." (The word _kaji_ to-day means "helm";--the single oar, or scull, working upon a pivot, and serving at once for rudder and oar, being now called _ro_.) The mist pa.s.sing across the Amanogawa is, according to commentators, the spray from the Star-G.o.d's oar.]

Amanogawa Kawa 'to sayakeshi: Hikoboshi no Haya kogu fune no Nami no sawagi ka?

[_On the River of Heaven a sound of plashing can be distinctly heard: is it the sound of the rippling made by Hikoboshi quickly rowing his boat?_]

Kono y[=u]be, Furikuru ame wa, Hikoboshi no Haya kogu fune no Ka no chiri ka mo.

[_Perhaps this evening shower is but the spray (flung down) from the oar of Hikoboshi, rowing his boat in haste._]

Waga tama-doko wo Asu yori wa Uchi hara, Kimi to inezute Hitori ka mo nen!

[_From to-morrow, alas! after having put my jewel-bed in order, no longer reposing with my lord, I must sleep alone!_]

Kaze f.u.kite, Kawa-nami tachinu;-- Hiki-fune ni Watari mo kimase Yo no f.u.kenu ma ni.

[_The wind having risen, the waves of the river have become high;--this night cross over in a towboat,[23] I pray thee, before the hour be late!_]

[Footnote 23: Lit. "pull-boat" (_hiki-fune_),--a barge or boat pulled by a rope.]

Amanogawa Nami wa tatsutomo, Waga fune wa Iza kogi iden Yo no f.u.kenu ma ni.

[_Even though the waves of the River of_ _Heaven run high, I must row over quickly, before it becomes late in the night._]

Inishie ni Oriteshi hata wo; Kono y[=u]be Koromo ni nute-- Kimi matsu are wo!

[_Long ago I finished weaving the material; and, this evening, having finished sewing the garment for him--(why must) I still wait for my lord?_]

Amanogawa Se wo hayami ka mo?

Nubatama no Yo wa f.u.ke ni tsutsu, Awanu Hikoboshi!

[_Is it that the current of the River of_ _Heaven (has become too) rapid? The jet-black night[24] advances--and Hikoboshi has not come!_]

[Footnote 24: _Nubatama no yo_ might better be rendered by some such phrase as "the berry-black night,"--but the intended effect would be thus lost in translation. _Nubatama-no_ (a "pillow-word") is written with characters signifying "like the black fruits of _Karasu-[=O]gi_;"

and the ancient phrase "_nubatama no yo_" therefore may be said to have the same meaning as our expressions "jet-black night," or "pitch-dark night."]

Watashi-mori, Fune haya watase;-- Hito-tose ni Futatabi kay[=o]

Kimi naranaku ni!

[_Oh, ferryman, make speed across the stream!--my lord is not one who can come and go twice in a year!_]

Aki kaze no f.u.kinishi hi yori, Amanogawa Kawase ni dedachi;-- Matsu to tsuge koso!

[_On the very day that the autumn-wind began to blow, I set out for the shallows of the River of Heaven;--I pray you, tell my lord that I am waiting here still!_]

Tanabata no Funanori surashi,-- Maso-kagami, Kiyoki tsuki-yo ni k.u.mo tachi-wataru.

[_Methinks Tanabata must be coming in her boat; for a cloud is even now pa.s.sing across the clear face of the moon._[25]]

[Footnote 25: Composed by the famous poet [=O]tomo no Sukune Yakamochi, while gazing at the Milky Way, on the seventh night of the seventh month of the tenth year of Tampy[=o] (A.D. 738). The pillow-word in the third line (_maso-kagami_) is untranslatable.]

--And yet it has been gravely a.s.serted that the old j.a.panese poets could find no beauty in starry skies!...