七夕に貸せる衣の露けさに
飽かぬ気色を空に知るかな
飽かぬ気色を空に知るかな
- Roma-ji
-
Tanabata ni kaseru koromo no tsuyukesa ni akanu keshiki o sora ni shiru kana
- English Translation
-
By the dew upon
the robe that I lent to her,
the Weaver Maid,
I learn as if from the sky
how loath they were to part
- Meaning
- From the dampness of the robe I lent at Tanabata, I can tell, without seeing, how unwilling the two stars were to part.
- Commentary
-
Book Three Autumn Poems 163
Finding the robe lent at Tanabata returned damp with dew, the poet senses, without looking at the sky, that the two stars wept in reluctance to part. Taking the dew on the robe for tears of parting, he imagines from below the hearts of the stars above.
Like poems 159 and 160 in this book, it draws on the custom of lending robes at Tanabata.
From poem 158 through poem 167 in this book come poems on Tanabata, singing of the yearly meeting of the Herdsman and the Weaver Maid, the custom of lending robes to the Weaver, and the tears of parting at dawn.
The author, Kuninobu, is Minamoto no Kuninobu. A son of the Minister of the Right Minamoto no Akifusa, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor. One of the poets of the Horikawa Hundred-Poem Sequences, he was active in the circle of Emperor Horikawa.
First line, 'tanabata ni', means to the Weaver Maid of Tanabata.
Second line, 'kaseru koromo no', means of the robe I lent, ru being the attributive form of the perfective ri.
Third line, 'tsuyukesa ni', means by its dampness, taking the dew for tears of parting.
Fourth line, 'akanu keshiki o', means the look of reluctance, the stars' unwillingness to part.
Final line, 'sora ni shiru kana', uses sora ni, without certain grounds, by intimation, while also evoking the sky where the stars are; kana is exclamatory.
- Author
- Minamoto no Kunizane
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Amanogawa wakare ni mune no kogarureba kaesa no fune wa kaji mo torarezu
- Next Poem
-
Kagiri arite wakaruru toki mo tanabata no namida no iro wa kawarazarikeri