Wabinureba tsune wa yuyushiki Tanabata mo urayamarenuru mono ni zo arikeru - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

わびぬれば常はゆゆしき七夕も
うらやまれぬるものにぞありける

Roma-ji: Wabinureba tsune wa yuyushiki Tanabata mo urayamarenuru mono ni zo arikeru
English Translation: Now that I despair,
even Tanabata's stars,
so ill-fated, I thought,
are a thing that I can only
look upon with envy now.
Meaning: Now that love has brought me to despair, even the Tanabata stars, which I always thought ill-starred, have become a thing to envy.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 773

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that once the poet has fallen into the despair of love, even the stars of Tanabata, usually thought ill-starred for meeting only once a year, become a thing to envy. To one who cannot meet at all, even the yearly meeting of Tanabata seems enviable, expressing how deep the grief has grown. It closes the three Tanabata poems begun at 771.

First line, "wabinureba," means "now that I am in despair," the same line as the first line of 766 in this book, "wabinureba."
Second line, "tsune wa yuyushiki," means "ill-omened as a rule," with "yuyushi" meaning ominous and dreadful.
Third line, "Tanabata mo," means "even the Tanabata stars," taking up the Weaver Maid and Herdsman Star of the two preceding poems.
Fourth line, "urayamarenuru," means "have come to seem enviable," with "re" a spontaneous auxiliary and "nuru" the attributive form of the perfective "nu."
Final line, "mono ni zo arikeru," means "have become such a thing," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by the attributive "keru."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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