Shiishiba no tsuyukeki sode wa tanabata mo kasanu ni tsukete aware to ya min - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

椎柴の露けき袖は七夕も
貸さぬにつけてあはれとや見ん

Roma-ji: Shiishiba no tsuyukeki sode wa tanabata mo kasanu ni tsukete aware to ya min
English Translation: These sleeves of oak-leaf gray
wet through with dew, the Weaver
herself, I wonder,
seeing that we lend no robe,
will she not look on with pity?
Meaning: Will even the Weaver Star, seeing that this year no robe is lent to her, look with pity on these sleeves of oak-leaf gray mourning, wet with dew?
Commentary: Book Nine Poems of Lament 587

Headnote: "Reply"
His mother's reply to Fujiwara no Saneie's poem before it. Will even the Weaver Star, seeing that no robe is lent, look with pity on these dew-wet sleeves of oak-leaf gray, she asks. The mother, who has lost her husband, also wets her mourning sleeves with tears, and she shares her grief with her son by saying that even the Weaver, deprived of her robe this year, will understand and feel pity.
The author, "the Third-Rank Lady (mother of the Minister of the Right)," is Fujiwara no Gōshi, daughter of Provisional Middle Counselor Fujiwara no Toshitada. She became the wife of Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Kinyoshi and the mother of Sanesada, Saneie and others. She was a sister of Fujiwara no Shunzei, compiler of this anthology.
In this exchange with the preceding poem, 586, it takes up that poem's words "tanabata," "kasanu," "shiishiba" and "tsuyukekari" directly in reply.

First line, "shiishiba no": the dull gray mourning dress dyed with chinquapin oak, answering "shiishiba no" in the third line of the preceding poem.
Second line, "tsuyukeki sode wa": "the sleeves wet with the dew of tears," answering "tsuyukekarikeri" in the last line of the preceding poem.
Third line, "tanabata mo": "the Weaver Star too," answering "tanabata ni" in the first line of the preceding poem.
Fourth line, "kasanu ni tsukete": "seeing that no robe is lent this year," answering "kotoshi wa kasanu" in the second line of the preceding poem.
Fifth line, "aware to ya min": the interrogative "ya" closes with "n," the attributive of the conjectural, "will she look on with pity?"
Author: Fujiwara no Gōshi
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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