秋の夜の心もしるく七夕の
逢へる今宵は明けずもあらなん
逢へる今宵は明けずもあらなん
- Roma-ji
-
Aki no yo no kokoro mo shiruku tanabata no aeru koyoi wa akezu mo aranan
- English Translation
-
As the autumn night
is long, true to its own heart,
for the Weaver Maid
this night when she meets her love,
let it never come to dawn
- Meaning
- True to the nature of the long autumn night, may this night when the Weaver Maid meets her love never reach the dawn.
- Commentary
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Book Five Autumn Poems I 235
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
Since the autumn night is long by nature, the poet wishes that this night, when the Weaver Maid meets her love, might not end at all. The heart that grieves over the brevity of the once-yearly meeting is entrusted to the long autumn night.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Aki no yo no," means "of the autumn night," pointing to the season of long nights. 247 of this book opens with the same line, "aki no yo no," and sings of parting on an autumn night.
In the second line, "kokoro" means "the nature of a thing," and "shiruku" means "plainly, just as it is": "true to the nature of the autumn night," which is long.
The third line, "tanabata no," means "the Weaver Maid," the subject of "aeru" in the fourth line.
In the fourth line, "ru" is the attributive form of the continuative auxiliary "ri": "this night when she is meeting."
In the last line, "nan" is a particle expressing a wish directed at something else: "may it not dawn."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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