Tanabata ni kotoshi wa kasanu shiishiba no sode shimo koto ni tsuyukekarikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

七夕に今年は貸さぬ椎柴の
袖しもことに露けかりけり

Roma-ji: Tanabata ni kotoshi wa kasanu shiishiba no sode shimo koto ni tsuyukekarikeri
English Translation: This year, to the Weaver
I lend no robe, and so
my mourning sleeves
of oak-leaf gray are wet
with dew beyond all others
Meaning: This year I lend no robe to the Weaver Star, and my sleeves of oak-leaf gray mourning are wetter with dew than ever.
Commentary: Book Nine Poems of Lament 586

Headnote: "Sent on the seventh day of the Seventh Month, along with a letter to my mother, the Third-Rank lady, after the Ōimikado Minister of the Right passed away"
Sent on the seventh day of the Seventh Month, along with a letter to his mother, the Third-Rank lady, after the death of his father, the Ōimikado Minister of the Right, Fujiwara no Kinyoshi. My oak-leaf gray sleeves, which this year lend no robe to the Weaver, are especially wet with dew, he says. At Tanabata it was the custom to lend robes as offerings to the Weaver Star, but this year, in mourning dress, he lends none, and his sleeves are wet with tears; through the Tanabata observance he conveys to his mother his grief for his father. Kinyoshi died in 1161.
The author, "Major Counselor Saneie," was the son of Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Kinyoshi. He rose to Major Counselor. His elder brother was Fujiwara no Sanesada.
The next poem, 587, is his mother's reply.

First line, "tanabata ni": "to the Weaver Star," drawing on the custom of lending robes as offerings to the Weaver on the seventh day of the Seventh Month.
Second line, "kotoshi wa kasanu": "nu" is the attributive of the negative "zu," "this year, in mourning, I lend no robe." The next poem, 587, takes this up with "kasanu ni tsukete."
Third line, "shiishiba no": "shiishiba" is the branches and leaves of the chinquapin oak, and the dull gray mourning dress dyed with them. The next poem, 587, also opens with "shiishiba no."
Fourth line, "sode shimo koto ni": the emphatic "shimo," and "koto ni," "especially."
Fifth line, "tsuyukekarikeri": "tsuyukeshi" is damp with dew, meaning wet with tears, and "keri" expresses realization, overlaid with the autumn dew of the Tanabata season.
Author: Fujiwara no Saneie
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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