Toshi ni arite ima ka makuramu nubatama no yogiri komoreru tōzuma no te o

年にありて今か巻くらむぬばたまの
夜霧隠れる遠妻の手を

Roma-ji: Toshi ni arite ima ka makuramu nubatama no yogiri komoreru tōzuma no te o
English Translation: Once within the year,
now, perhaps, he pillows there—
black as leopard-seeds,
in the night mist hid away,
on the hand of his far wife.
Meaning: Now, on this one night of the year, is he pillowing his head on the arm of his faraway wife, hidden in the black night mist?
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2035

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
This poem imagines whether, on this one night of the year, the Herdsman is now pillowing his head on the arm of his faraway wife, hidden in the night mist. An earthly person imagines the stars' meeting beyond the night mist, showing warm sympathy for an unseen tryst. Like "with my distant wife, exchanging arm-pillows" in 2021, it sings of the arm-pillow of a faraway wife.

The first line, "toshi ni arite," is taken to mean once a year, and is hypermetric.
In the second line, "ima ka makuramu," "ka" is an interrogative particle in kakari-musubi with the attributive "ramu." The poem breaks here.
The third line, "nubatama no," is a pillow word attached to "night."
The fourth line, "hidden in the night mist," describes her concealment.
The last line, "the hand of his far wife," names by inversion what he pillows on.
Source: Manyoshu
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