Wagimoko ga akamo no suso no hizuchinamu kyō no kosame ni ware sae nurena

我妹子が赤裳の裾のひづちなむ
今日の小雨に我れさへ濡れな

Roma-ji: Wagimoko ga akamo no suso no hizuchinamu kyō no kosame ni ware sae nurena
English Translation: My dear darling's
crimson skirt, its trailing hem
must be drenched by now;
in today's light rain let me
be drenched as well as she
Meaning: The hem of my beloved's crimson skirt must be soaked by now—in today's gentle rain, let me be drenched along with her.
Commentary: Book Seven Miscellaneous Poems 1090

Headnote: "On Rain"
In the light rain the poet imagines that the hem of his wife's red skirt must be soaked, and wishes to be soaked by the same rain himself. The rain becomes a link through which he seeks to be one in heart with the wife far from him.
It is the first poem under the heading "On Rain," and the next poem also sings of rain and a wife. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "My dear darling's," means "my beloved wife."
The second line, "crimson skirt, its trailing hem," refers to the red skirt women wore from the waist down; the red skirt was a garment symbolizing women's beauty in the Man'yō age.
In the third line, "must be drenched by now," "hizutsu" means to be wet or muddied, and "namu" combines the perfective with conjecture: "it must surely be soaked."
The fourth line, "in today's light rain," refers to the drizzle falling today.
In the final line, "sae" means "even I," and "na" is a particle of one's own intention: "let me be soaked too."
Source: Manyoshu
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