Koto no ne wa nazo ya kai naki tanabata no akanu wakare o hiki shi tomeneba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

琴の音はなぞやかひなき七夕の
あかぬ別れをひきしとめねば

Roma-ji: Koto no ne wa nazo ya kai naki tanabata no akanu wakare o hiki shi tomeneba
English Translation: The music of the koto,
why is it of no avail?
The Tanabata stars
and their parting, still unfulfilled,
I play, yet cannot hold them back.
Meaning: Why is the music of the koto of so little use? However I play, I cannot hold back the lingering parting of the Tanabata stars.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Autumn Poems 1090

Headnote: "For a screen of the same reign: a woman playing the koto on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month"
The poet asks why the music of the koto is of so little use, since however one plays it cannot hold back the lingering parting of the Tanabata stars. The headnote shows it was written for a screen painting of the same reign of Emperor En'yū, depicting a woman playing the koto on the night of the seventh day of the seventh month. Joining "hiku," to play the koto, and "hiku," to hold back the parting, it tells of the grief of the woman in the painting.
The author, written as "Minamoto no Shitagō," is Minamoto no Shitagau. Of the Saga Genji line, he took part, as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber, in compiling the Gosenshū and reading the Man'yōshū, and he compiled the dictionary Wamyō Ruijushō. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "koto no ne wa," means "the music of the koto."
Second line, "nazo ya kai naki," means "why is it of no use," with "nazo" an interrogative adverb and "ya" a questioning binding particle resolved by "naki," the attributive form of the adjective. The poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "tanabata no," means "of the Tanabata stars."
Fourth line, "akanu wakare o," means "the parting, still unfulfilled," sharing the same words with the second line of 1083 in this book, "akanu wakare mo," and the fourth line of 1084, "akanu wakare no."
Final line, "hiki shi tomeneba," means "since it cannot hold them back," with "hiki" a pivot word joining "hiku," to play the koto, and "hiku," to hold back the parting. "Shi" is an emphatic particle, and "neba," the perfective form of the negative followed by "ba," gives the reason. "Koto" and "play" form associated words.
Author: Minamoto no Shitagō
Source: Shui Wakashu
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