Tanabata ni aranu waga mi no nazo mo kaku toshi ni mare naru hito o matsuramu

七夕にあらぬわが身のなぞもかく
年に稀なる人を待つらむ

Roma-ji: Tanabata ni aranu waga mi no nazo mo kaku toshi ni mare naru hito o matsuramu
English Translation: Though I am no weaver,
no Tanabata maid, why
must I, even so,
wait for one who comes to me
but rarely through the year?
Meaning: I am not the Weaver Maid of Tanabata, so why must I wait like this for one who comes so rarely in the year?
Commentary: Love Poems 536

Headnote: "Love, on the Tanabata festival"
Though he is not the Weaver Maid, who meets the Herdsman only once a year, the poet asks why he must wait like this for one who comes so rarely.
The base text reads line 5 as matsunamu, but matsuramu is adopted here for the sense.

Line 1 means "the Weaver Maid," who meets the Herdsman once a year on Tanabata night.
Line 2 means "I, who am not."
Line 3 means "why, like this," answering ramu in line 5.
Line 4 means "rare in the year," recalling the lovers' yearly meeting.
Line 5 means "must I wait," ramu conjecturing a cause; like the magpie bridge of 415, it uses the Tanabata legend for love.
Author: Minamoto no Sanetomo
Source: Kinkaishu
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