Kokinshu #182
Thursday, 22 December 2011 09:06![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lnhammer Written at dawn on the night of the Seventh.
Because "It is now" --
in this time of separation,
though I haven't yet
crossed the River of Heaven,
my sleeves are already soaked.
ima wa tote
wakaruru toki wa
ama (no) kawa
wataranu saki ni
sode zo hichinuru
---L.
Because "It is now" --
in this time of separation,
though I haven't yet
crossed the River of Heaven,
my sleeves are already soaked.
—5 December 2011
Original by Minamoto no Muneyuki. The conceit being that the Oxherd is crying into his sleeves, getting them wet even before the river splashes them, presumably on the ferry. Technically "(it is) now" is not directly quoted, but I treat it as a farewell comparable to sayônara, lit. "since (it's) thus," to bring out the pathos. I completely failed to reproduce the soundplay of wakaru ("separate") and wataru ("cross").ima wa tote
wakaruru toki wa
ama (no) kawa
wataranu saki ni
sode zo hichinuru
---L.