Kora shi araba futari kikamu o okitsu su ni nakunaru tazu no akatoki no koe

子らしあらばふたり聞かむを沖つ洲に
鳴くなる鶴の暁の声

Roma-ji: Kora shi araba futari kikamu o okitsu su ni nakunaru tazu no akatoki no koe
English Translation: If my love were here,
we two would listen together—
from the offshore sands
the crying of the cranes,
the voices before the dawn
Meaning: If only my beloved were here, we would listen together: the voices of the cranes crying on the sandbar out at sea, in the dark before dawn.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 1000

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Six poems from the time of the imperial progress to the Naniwa palace in the third month of spring"
Hearing alone at Naniwa the cries of cranes drifting from a sandbar offshore before dawn, the poet longs for the wife he left in the capital, thinking that if she were here they would listen together. It is one of six poems from the third month of Tenpyō 6 (734), when Emperor Shōmu made a progress to the Naniwa palace. A note following the poem says, "The above poem is by Prince Moribe."
The cries of the cranes ringing through the stillness before dawn heighten the loneliness of travel and the longing for his wife. It is a poem that conveys the melancholy of those in the retinue, hidden behind the splendor of the progress.
The poet, Prince Moribe, was a son of Prince Toneri and a member of the imperial family in the Nara period.

This poem is by the same Prince Moribe as the preceding poem, 999; where that poem sang of rain and fishermen on the shore by day, this one sings of cranes on an offshore sandbar before dawn, setting a daytime scene against sounds heard before daybreak.
The first line, "If my love were here," means "if my wife were here." "Kora" is an affectionate word for a wife or lover, "shi" is an emphatic particle, and "araba" expresses a supposition.
The second line, "we two would listen together," means "we would listen together, but." "O" carries an adversative sigh, showing the loneliness of actually listening alone. The sense breaks here, after the second line.
The third line, "from the offshore sands," means "on the sandbar out at sea." "Tsu" is an old case particle meaning "of," and the line shows the distant place from which the cranes' cries come.
The fourth line, "the crying of the cranes," means "the cranes that are crying." "Naru" is an auxiliary of inference based on sound, showing that the birds cannot be seen and only their voices are heard.
The final line, "the voices before the dawn," means the cries before daybreak, and closing on a noun leaves the lingering echo of the cranes' voices across the dark sea.
Author: Prince Moribe
Source: Manyoshu
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