Tamakushige akemaku oshiki atarayo o koromode karete hitori kamo nemu

玉櫛笥明けまく惜しきあたら夜を
衣手離れて独りかも寝む

Roma-ji: Tamakushige akemaku oshiki atarayo o koromode karete hitori kamo nemu
English Translation: Like a jeweled comb box
opening—the dawn I dread,
this night too fine to lose,
parted from my darling's sleeves,
must I sleep here all alone?
Meaning: On this precious night whose dawning I would hate to see, must I sleep alone, far from my beloved's sleeves?
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems 1693

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems composed in the province of Kii"
The traveler laments that he must spend alone a night so fine he would hate to see it end, without exchanging sleeves with his wife.
This is the second of two poems composed in Kii. It shares the last line of the preceding poem, doubling the lament of sleeping alone. Where the preceding poem mourns the wife's absence, this one centers on regret for a beautiful night.
The author, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was a court poet active in the reigns of Jitō and Monmu. This poem is taken from the Hitomaro Collection, which is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he gathered.

The first line, tamakushige, "jeweled comb box," is a pillow word for aku, "to open" or "to dawn," from the opening of the box's lid.
The second line, "opening—the dawn I dread," uses akemaku, a nominalized form of aku.
The third line, "this night too fine to lose," is atarayo, a night too precious to see end.
The fourth line, "parted from my darling's sleeves," means sleeping apart from her.
The final line, "must I sleep here all alone?" is identical to that of 1692, a kakari-musubi of kamo with mu.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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