Tanabata no ama no hagoromo kasanete mo akanu chigiri ya nao musuburan - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

七夕の天の羽衣重ねても
飽かぬ契りやなほ結ぶらん

Roma-ji: Tanabata no ama no hagoromo kasanete mo akanu chigiri ya nao musuburan
English Translation: Though she lays her robes,
her heavenly feathered robes,
with his, one on one,
does she bind still tighter yet
a vow that never sates?
Meaning: Though the Weaver Maid lays her heavenly feathered robe upon her lover's, does she bind still tighter a vow of love that never brings her fill?
Commentary: Book Four Autumn Poems I 237

Headnote: "Composed when presenting a hundred-poem sequence in the reign of Emperor Horikawa"
A poem on Tanabata from the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequence, for which poets each presented one hundred poems in the reign of Emperor Horikawa. Though the Weaver Maid and the Herdsman lie together with their heavenly feathered robes layered, do they bind yet more firmly a vow whose love never brings satiety? Through the "layering" of robes and the "binding" of a vow, the poem conveys the lingering regret of a meeting granted only once a year.
The author, "Higo of the Nijō Grand Empress Dowager's Household," was the daughter of Fujiwara no Sadanari, Governor of Higo. She long served in the house of the Kyōgoku Regent Fujiwara no Morozane, and later served Princess Reishi, Emperor Shirakawa's daughter, known as the Nijō Grand Empress Dowager. She was one of the poets of the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequence.
This poem and the next, 238, are both Tanabata poems from the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequence. After the preceding poem, 236, on the boat setting out, this one depicts the meeting itself.

First line, "tanabata no": the Weaver Maid, modifying "ama no hagoromo" in the second line.
Second line, "ama no hagoromo": the feathered robe in which celestial beings fly through the sky, here the Weaver Maid's. Following "amatsu hire" in the preceding poem, 236, it again speaks of her garments.
Third line, "kasanete mo": "even layering their robes and lying together." "Hagoromo," "kasane" and "musubu" are associated words linked to clothing.
Fourth line, "akanu chigiri ya": "akanu" means never sated, endless in its longing, and "chigiri" is the bond or vow between lovers. The interrogative "ya" links with "ran" in the last line.
Fifth line, "nao musuburan": "musubu," to bind a vow, also echoes tying the cords of a robe; "ran," the attributive of present conjecture, closes with "ya."
Author: Higo
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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