Hikoboshi no tsuma matsu yoi no akikaze ni ware sae ayana hito zo koishiki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

彦星の妻待つ宵の秋思に
我さへあやな人ぞ恋しき

Roma-ji: Hikoboshi no tsuma matsu yoi no akikaze ni ware sae ayana hito zo koishiki
English Translation: On this eve when the
Herdsman Star awaits his wife,
in the autumn wind,
I too, for no reason known,
find myself longing for one.
Meaning: On this evening when the Herdsman Star waits for his wife, the autumn wind makes even me, for no reason at all, long for someone dear.
Commentary: Book Three Autumn Poems 142

Headnote: "A folding-screen poem from the reign of Engi"
On the evening of the Tanabata festival, when the Herdsman Star waits for his wife the Weaver, the poet, blown by the autumn wind, finds that he too longs for someone for no clear reason. He overlays his own earthly love upon the heart of the Herdsman Star awaiting their single yearly meeting. According to the headnote, it is a folding-screen poem from the Engi era of Emperor Daigo.
The author, written as Mitsune, is Ōshikōchi no Mitsune. One of the compilers of the Kokinshū, he was ranked alongside Ki no Tsurayuki and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
The third line of the main text reads "shūshi ni" (in autumn thoughts), which does not match "akikaze ni" in the reading line. Here the written form of the main text is kept, while the reading follows the reading line as "akikaze."

First line, "hikoboshi no," refers to the Herdsman Star. Poems on Tanabata continue from here through 154 of this book, and this poem begins the sequence.
Second line, "tsuma matsu yoi no," means "on the evening when he waits for his wife," the Weaver Star. On the night of Tanabata the Herdsman was said to cross the River of Heaven to meet the Weaver.
Third line, written "shūshi ni," means, following the reading line, "in the autumn wind," the wind blowing on the evening of Tanabata.
Fourth line, "ware sae ayana," means "even I, without reason," with "sae" as an additive particle and "ayana" expressing bewilderment.
Final line, "hito zo koishiki," means "I long for someone," with "zo" resolved by the attributive "koishiki." Overlaying his own love on the Herdsman's waiting, the poem holds both heavenly and earthly love in one.
Author: Oshikochi no Mitsune
Source: Shui Wakashu
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