Tanabata wa au o ureshi to omouran ware wa wakare no uki koyoi kana

七夕は逢ふを嬉しと思ふらん
我は別れの憂き今宵かな

Roma-ji: Tanabata wa au o ureshi to omouran ware wa wakare no uki koyoi kana
English Translation: The Tanabata stars
must think how glad they are
to meet on this night—
but for me it is a night
of parting, full of grief.
Meaning: The stars of Tanabata must be glad to meet tonight, but for me this night is one of bitter parting.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1264

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One hundred and ten love poems"
The Tanabata stars must be glad to meet tonight, but for me this is a night of painful parting, the poet says.
Contrasting the stars who rejoice in their once-a-year meeting with himself lamenting a parting, he sharpens the pain of his own love. Because it is a night when others celebrate meetings, the sorrow of parting cuts all the deeper.

First line, “tanabata wa”: the two stars of Tanabata, the Weaver and the Herdsman.
Second line, “au o ureshi to”: that meeting is joyful.
Third line, “omouran”: ran conjectures, "they must think"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “ware wa wakare no”: I, of parting, set against "meeting."
Fifth line, “uki koyoi kana”: kana is exclamatory, "what a bitter night."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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