Nagarauru tsuma fuku kaze no samuki yo ni waga se no kimi wa hitori ka nuramu

流らふる妻吹く風の寒き夜に
我が背の君はひとりか寝らむ

Roma-ji: Nagarauru tsuma fuku kaze no samuki yo ni waga se no kimi wa hitori ka nuramu
English Translation: On this bitter night,
when the wind blows on and on
against the eaves' edge,
is my husband, my dear lord,
sleeping all alone out there?
Meaning: On this cold night, as the wind blows ceaselessly against the eaves, is my husband sleeping all alone out there?
Commentary: Book One Miscellaneous Poems 59

Headnote: "A poem composed by Princess Yosa"
On a night of cold wind, the poet worries that her husband, away on a journey, may be sleeping alone and forlorn. Though the headnote says nothing of a royal journey, its placement suggests it was composed while her husband attended Retired Empress Jitō's journey to Mikawa. The tsuma of the second line is read either as the edge of the eaves or the hem of a robe, and interpretations vary.
Princess Yosa was a woman of the imperial family whose lineage is unknown. According to the Shoku Nihongi, she died in 706, the third year of Keiun, holding the junior fourth rank, lower grade.

The first line, nagarauru, means to flow on without cease, describing the wind blowing without a break.
In the second line, tsuma is most often taken as the edge of the eaves: "the wind that blows against the eaves." Another view reads it as the hem of a robe.
The third line, "on this cold night," takes up the wind of the opening lines to convey the chill of night.
In the fourth line, se no kimi is a woman's respectful and affectionate term for her husband, here the husband on his journey.
In the last line, the questioning particle ka is answered by the attributive of the conjectural ramu in a kakari-musubi: "is he sleeping alone?" Imagining her husband sleeping alone on a cold night as she does, it reveals the loneliness of separation.
Author: Princess Yosa
Source: Manyoshu
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