Hikoboshi no mare ni au yo no tokonatsu wa uchiharaedomo tsuyukekarikeri - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

彦星のまれに逢ふ夜のとこ夏は
打ち払へども露けかりけり

Roma-ji: Hikoboshi no mare ni au yo no tokonatsu wa uchiharaedomo tsuyukekarikeri
English Translation: On the rare night when
the Herdsman Star comes to meet,
the pinks of the bed—
though I brush and brush them clear,
how wet with dew they are
Meaning: On this rare night when the Herdsman comes, my bed, like the summer pinks, stays wet with dew no matter how often I brush it.
Commentary: Book Five Autumn Poems I 230

Headnote: "When a man who had stopped visiting came on the night of the seventh, the woman composed this."
Likening the man who visits so rarely to the Herdsman, she says that on this rare night of meeting her bed stays wet with the dew of tears however often she brushes it. Rather than rejoicing at his long-awaited visit, she tells of the tears shed while his visits had ceased.
According to the headnote, a man who had stopped visiting came on the night of the seventh of the Seventh Month, and the woman composed this. Ōshikōchi no Mitsune's "chiri o dani sueji to zo omou sakishi yori imo to waga nuru tokonatsu no hana" in the Kokin Wakashū likewise overlays the bed on the summer pinks.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. The headnote shows that the poet was a woman.

The first line, "Hikoboshi no," means "of the Herdsman Star," likening the man who visits only rarely.
The second line, "mare ni au yo no," means "of the night of rare meeting," overlaying the once-yearly meeting of Tanabata on the man's long-awaited visit.
In the third line, "tokonatsu" is a pivot word joining "tokonatsu," another name for the pink, and "toko," a bed.
In the fourth line, "uchi" is a prefix and "domo" a definite concession: "though I brush it." It shows the gesture of brushing dust from a bed.
The last line, "tsuyukekarikeri," means "how wet with dew," with the dew standing for tears. "Tsuyu," dew, is an associated word of the pink.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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