Left (Win)
あひ見てもあはでもなげくたなばたのいつかこころはのどけかるらむ
| aimite mo awade mo nageku tanabata no itsuka kokoro wa nodokekaruramu | Even having met him, Now she sees him not, grieving is The Weaver Maid— When is it that her heart Might find some peace? |
7
Right
あはずしておもひしよりもたなばたはあかずわかれてのちぞわびしき
| awazushite omoishi yori mo tanabata wa akazu wakarete nochi zo wabishiki | She would not meet him Once she thought, but far more, now, The Weaver Maid, Endlessly, after Parting is filled with lonely sadness. |
8
Among the courtiers in service to His Majesty, former Emperor Uda, it was possible to pick out those who had some sensitivity and those who did not, so in a certain year, when the kōshin rite came around on the 7th day of the Seventh Month, those gentlemen who were thought to have this sensitivity spent the day composing poems on the topic of ‘feelings after meeting at Tanabata’ which were divided into teams and matched.
Left
としごとにこりずやあるらんたなばたのあひてこひしきわかれのみする
| toshigoto ni korizu ya aruran tanabata no aite koishiki wakare nomi suru | Every single year Does she never learn, I wonder? The Weaver Maid Meets and then with love Does simply part. |
1
Right (Win)
おもひやる心のそらにしらるればたなばたつめのわかれかなしな
| omoiyaru kokoro no sora ni shirarureba tanabatatsume no wakare kanashiki | Yearning fills The heavens of her heart— How well she knows it, for The Weaver Maid’s Parting is so sad. |
2
When Cloistered Prince Shukaku ordered him to compose a fifty poem sequence.
たれとしもしらぬ別のかなしきはまつらがおきをいづるふな人
| tare to shimo shiranu wakare no kanashiki wa matsura ga oki o izuru funabito | Who that is I know not, but parting’s Sadness strikes On the offing at Matsura where He departs on his boat… |
Lord Fujiwara no Takanobu
When Minamoto no Sane left her, saying that he was going to take a hot spring cure in Tsukushi, she composed this at Yamazaki, regretting their parting.
いのちだに心にかなふ物ならばなにか別のかなしからまし
| inoti wo dani kokoro ni kanaFu mono naraba nani ka wakare no kanasikaramasi | If life at least As we wished Would go Why, then, should parting Seem so sad? |
Shirome
When a woman who had long been in the same house left, on hearing that her parents in the province of Mino were unwell.
今はとて立帰ゆくふるさとの不破の関路に都忘るな
| ima Fa tote taikaFeriyuku Furusato no Fuwa no sekidi ni miyako wasuruna |
“Now is the time,” you say Getting up to leave for Your home on The roads past the barrier of Fuwa, Don’t forget the capital! |
Fujiwara no Kiyotada (? – 958)
藤原清正
When Lord Tachibana no Tamenaka left to become Governor of Michinoku, this was presented from pantry of the Grand Empress Dowager, without any mention of who had sent it.
東路のはるけき道を行かへりいつかとくべき下紐の関
| adumadi no Farukeki miti wo yukikaFeri ituka tokubeki sitaFimo no seki |
On Eastern paths So distant Will you go, and then return When, indeed, will you undo The barrier of Shitahimo – my under-belt again? |
Anonymous
On the first day of the Eighth Month, after His Majesty, Retired Emperor Kazan had given me a bow, and the day when I had to depart was delayed, as if to say, ‘When is it that you’re really off?’ His Majesty said:
言へばあり言はねば苦しわかれぢを
| iFeba ari iFaneba kurusi wakaredi wo |
When I say, ‘Farewell’, you linger on, but To leave it unsaid, a painful Parting, it would be… |
And I sadly replied:
そのほどゝだにいかできこえじ
| sono Fodo to dani ika de kikoezi |
If only the appointed date, I could, Somehow, leave unmentioned… |
When Tadasada, the Governor of Inaba, left for his province:
別れても立ち歸るべき仲なれどいなば戀しと思ふべきかな
| wakaretemo tatikaFerubeki naka naredo inaba koFisi to omoFubeki kana |
Though we do part, and Back must go All that was between us, yet When you are gone to Inaba, fondly Indeed, will you rest in my thoughts. |