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

Hikoboshi to
Tanabata-tsum['e] to
Koyo[:i] a[:u];--
Ama-no-Kawa to ni
Nami tatsu-na yum['e]!

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

Aki-kaz['e] no
Fuki tadayowasu
Shirakumo wa,
Tanabata-tsum['e] no
Amatsu hir['e] kamo?

[_Oh! that white cloud driven by the autumn-wind--can it be
the heavenly hir['e][21] of Tana-bata-tsum['e]?_]

[Footnote 21: At different times, in the history of Japanese female
costume, different articles of dress were called by this name. In
the present instance, the _hir['e]_ 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 _hir['e]_ 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-d['e] haya s['e]yo
Yo no fuk['e]nu 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 fuk['e]-yuk['e]ba.

[_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
passing across the Amanogawa is, according to commentators, the spray
from the Star-god's oar.]

Amanogawa
Kawa 'to sayak['e]shi:
Hikoboshi no
Haya kogu fun['e] 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]b['e],
Furikuru am['e] wa,
Hikoboshi no
Haya kogu fun['e] no
Ka[:i] no chiri ka mo.

[_Perhaps this evening shower is but th