Hitotose ni hitotabi kimasu kimi mateba yado kasu hito mo araji to zo omou - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

一年にひとたび来ます君待てば
宿貸す人もあらじとぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Hitotose ni hitotabi kimasu kimi mateba yado kasu hito mo araji to zo omou
English Translation: Just once in a year
does her lord come visiting;
since for him she waits,
someone to lend you lodging
there will be none, I believe.
Meaning: The Weaver Maid waits for her beloved, who comes only once a year, so I doubt she will lend her lodging to anyone else.
Commentary: Book Nine Travel Poems 419

Headnote: "The prince recited this poem over and over and could not compose a reply, so, being in attendance, he composed this"
Answering Narihira's proposal in the preceding poem to seek lodging with the Weaver Maid, the poet replies that since she waits for the Herdsman who comes once a year, she will surely lend her lodging to no one else. Composing a witty reply in the prince's place, he brings the merriment of the party to a close.
According to the headnote, Prince Koretaka could only repeat Narihira's poem to himself and could not reply, so Aritsune, who was in attendance, composed one for him. The same scene appears in episode eighty-two of The Tales of Ise.
The author, "Ki no Aritsune," is Ki no Aritsune, a son of Ki no Natora. His sister Shizuko bore Prince Koretaka as a consort of Emperor Montoku, making Aritsune the prince's uncle. His daughter became the wife of Ariwara no Narihira.

The first line, "once in a year," shows how rare the Tanabata meeting is.
In the second line, "kimasu" is an honorific of "come," speaking respectfully of the Herdsman's visit, and the sound "hito" echoes the first line.
In the third line, "kimi" refers to the Herdsman; "mateba" is the realis with "ba," a completed condition, "since she waits."
The fourth line, "one to lend lodging," answers "I will borrow lodging" in the preceding poem, setting borrowing against lending.
In the last line, "ji" is a negative conjectural auxiliary and "zo" a binding particle, completed by the attributive "omou." With the preceding poem, 418, it forms a pair of exchanged poems, and the contrast between the one seeking lodging and the one refusing it draws laughter from the company.
Author: Ki no Aritsune
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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