Tanabata mo au yo arikeri Amanogawa kono watari ni wa wataru se mo nashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

七夕も逢ふ夜ありけり天の川
この渡りには渡る瀬もなし

Roma-ji: Tanabata mo au yo arikeri Amanogawa kono watari ni wa wataru se mo nashi
English Translation: Even the Weaver Maid
has a night when they may meet;
the River of Heaven,
yet here at this crossing place
there is no ford for me.
Meaning: Even the Weaver Maid has her night of meeting; but across this River of Heaven, here where I am, there is no shallow ford to cross.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 649

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that even the Weaver Maid of Tanabata has a night of meeting once a year, yet where the poet is there is no ford to cross. Envying even the star who waits for her yearly meeting, it laments a love denied even that. Repeating "watari" and "wataru," it likens the distance between lovers to the breadth of a river.

First line, "tanabata mo," means "even the Weaver Maid," "tanabata" here meaning the Weaver star.
Second line, "au yo arikeri," means "has a night of meeting," with "keri" expressing a sigh of realization. The poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "Amanogawa," is the River of Heaven, which separates the Herdsman and the Weaver.
Fourth line, "kono watari ni wa," means "around here," with "watari" also carrying the sense of a river crossing.
Final line, "wataru se mo nashi," means "there is no ford to cross," repeating the word "watari" from the fourth line. "Se," a shallow ford, also suggests a chance to meet.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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