Tōzuma to tamakura kaete netaru yo wa torigane na naki akeba akenu tomo

遠妻と手枕交へて寝たる夜は
鶏がねな鳴き明けば明けぬとも

Roma-ji: Tōzuma to tamakura kaete netaru yo wa torigane na naki akeba akenu tomo
English Translation: With my distant wife
arms as pillows, intertwined,
on the night we sleep,
cock-crow, do not cry aloud,
though the dawn should break, let it.
Meaning: On the night I sleep with my faraway wife, our arms as each other's pillows, O cock, do not crow—if dawn must break, let it break.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2021

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
In this poem the Herdsman, having finally slept beside his long-distant wife, asks the cock that announces dawn not to crow. Even if the dawn's coming cannot be helped, he wishes at least not to be told the hour of parting by the cock's cry, showing the ache of regret at the meeting's end. The Herdsman, who in the preceding poem resolved to fulfill the meeting even if dawn came, here grieves the end of their night together, so time moves forward within the series.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet of the Asuka period, active under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. The left note records that this poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, and it is uncertain whether it is Hitomaro's own work or a poem by someone else that he recorded.

The first line, "with my distant wife," names the beloved who lives far away.
The second line, "exchanging arm-pillows," shows them sleeping together.
The third line, "on the night we slept," names the night.
In the fourth line, "torigane na naki," "na" is prohibitive: cock, do not crow.
The last line, "akeba akenu tomo," if dawn breaks, let it break, is hypermetric, closing with the wish that the cock not crow though dawn cannot be avoided.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Amanogawa yobune o kogite akenu tomo awamu to omou yo sode kaezu aramu
Next Poem: Aimiraku akidaranedomo inanome no akesarinikeri funade semu tsuma