年ごとにあふとはすれどたなばたの
寝るよのかずぞ少なかりける
寝るよのかずぞ少なかりける
- Roma-ji
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Toshi goto ni au to wa suredo tanabata no
nuru yo no kazu zo sukunakarikeru - English Translation
-
Year after year
though they are said to meet thus—
at Tanabata,
the nights they lie together
are but few in number.
- Meaning
- Though it is said that they meet year after year at Tanabata, the nights they lie together are indeed very few.
- Commentary
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Book Four Autumn Poems (Part One)
This poem was composed on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month.
It is not written from any particular perspective, and its tone is restrained.
Placed alongside the earlier poem—“That pledged heart—how cruel it seems… can such a meeting be called meeting?”—it shares the same theme: the sorrow of meeting only once a year.
- Author
- Oshikochi no Mitsune
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Chigirikemu kokoro zo tsuraki tanabata no
toshi ni hitotabi au wa au ka wa - Next Poem
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Tanabata ni kashitsuru ito no uchihaete
toshi no o nagaku koi ya wataramu