Tanabata ni nugite kashitsuru karakoromo itodo namida ni sode ya nururan - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

たなばたに脱ぎて貸しつる唐衣
いとど涙に袖や濡るらん

Roma-ji: Tanabata ni nugite kashitsuru karakoromo itodo namida ni sode ya nururan
English Translation: To the Weaver Maid
I took off and lent my robe,
my Chinese robe;
now with tears all the more,
must its sleeves be soaked through?
Meaning: The Chinese robe I took off and lent to the Weaver Maid, its sleeves must now be all the more soaked with her tears.
Commentary: Book Three Autumn Poems 149

Headnote: "For the monthly folding screens in the reign of Engi"
The poet imagines that the robe he took off and lent to the Weaver as an offering at Tanabata must now have its sleeves soaked all the more with tears of parting after the meeting. Drawing on the custom of offering robes at Tanabata, he feels for the Weaver's sorrow through the robe he lent. According to the headnote, it accompanied a folding screen depicting the events of each month, made in the Engi era of Emperor Daigo.
The author, written as Tsurayuki, is Ki no Tsurayuki. The leading compiler of the Kokinshū, he wrote its Kana Preface and the Tosa Diary, and he is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "tanabata ni," means "to the Weaver Maid."
Second line, "nugite kashitsuru," means "which I took off and lent," with "tsuru," the attributive of the perfective auxiliary "tsu." It draws on the custom of offering robes to the Weaver at Tanabata.
Third line, "karakoromo," refers to a beautiful robe.
Fourth line, "itodo namida ni," means "all the more with tears," referring to the tears of parting after the meeting.
Final line, "sode ya nururan," means "must its sleeves be wet," with the questioning particle "ya" resolved by "ran," the attributive of the present conjectural auxiliary. Whereas 142 of this book sang of the evening of waiting for his wife, this poem imagines the parting after the meeting, so the two form a pair of before and after.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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