Kagiri arite wakaruru toki mo tanabata no namida no iro wa kawarazarikeri - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

限りありて別るる時も七夕の
涙の色は変はらざりけり

Roma-ji: Kagiri arite wakaruru toki mo tanabata no namida no iro wa kawarazarikeri
English Translation: Though it is decreed
that they must part when it comes,
the Weaver Maid's tears,
at the moment of farewell,
do not change their color still
Meaning: Though their parting is fixed by fate, the color of the Weaver Maid's tears does not change when the time to part comes.
Commentary: Book Three Autumn Poems 164

The parting, set once a year, is known in advance, yet the color of the Weaver Maid's tears is no less deep. The poem uses the color of tears to show that grief does not lessen even for a parting accepted as fate.
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.

First line, 'kagiri arite', means there being a limit, the tryst fixed to a single night. The line has an extra syllable.
Second line, 'wakaruru toki mo', means even when they part, mo implying even for a parting set by fate.
Third line, 'tanabata no', refers to the Weaver Maid.
Fourth line, 'namida no iro wa', means the color of her tears, evoking the crimson tears of deep grief.
Final line, 'kawarazarikeri', means it does not change, closing with the exclamatory keri.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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