Toshi ni arite hitoyo imo ni au hikoboshi mo ware ni masarite omourame ya mo

年にありて一夜妹に逢ふ彦星も
我れにまさりて思ふらめやも

Roma-ji: Toshi ni arite hitoyo imo ni au hikoboshi mo ware ni masarite omourame ya mo
English Translation: Once in the year
for a single night he meets his love,
the Herdsman Star;
could he be longing more
than I am longing now
Meaning: Even the Herdsman Star, who meets his love for a single night each year, could not be longing for her more than I.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3657

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Three poems composed on the Tanabata night, gazing up at the River of Heaven, each expressing his thoughts"
Even the Herdsman Star, who meets the Weaver Maiden for only one night a year, could not be longing for her as much as he does. On Tanabata night, thinking of the heavenly lovers' yearly meeting, he strongly voices, by comparison with the Herdsman, his lament that even such a single night's meeting is denied him. There is no left note, and the author is not named.
According to the headnote, this is one of three poems composed on the night of Tanabata, each expressing his thoughts while gazing up at the River of Heaven. The embassy greeted the seventh day of the seventh month at the Tsukushi lodge, and it was becoming clear that the promise made at departure, to return in autumn, could no longer be kept.

First line, "toshi ni arite": within a year, showing the rarity of the Tanabata meeting, once a year.
Second line, "hitoyo imo ni au": who meets his love for one night; the line has eight syllables, hypermetric.
Third line, "hikoboshi mo": the Herdsman Star; "mo" means even.
Fourth line, "ware ni masarite": more than I, comparing himself with the Herdsman.
Fifth line, "omourame ya mo": "rame" is the realis of the present conjecture "ramu," and "ya mo" rhetorical: could he be thinking so? Surely not, the poem ends with a firm denial.
Source: Manyoshu
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