Nubatama no kurokamiyama no yamasuge ni kosame furishiki shikushiku omōyu

ぬばたまの黒髪山の山菅に
小雨降りしきしくしく思ほゆ

Roma-ji: Nubatama no kurokamiyama no yamasuge ni kosame furishiki shikushiku omōyu
English Translation: Black as berry jet,
on Kurokami mountain
the wild sedge is wet,
the fine rain falling and falling,
you fill my thoughts again and again
Meaning: As fine rain falls without end on the mountain sedge of Mount Kurokami, so you come to my mind again and again.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2456

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
As a fine rain falls endlessly on the mountain sedge of Mount Kurokami, so the beloved comes to mind without ceasing: a love poem that uses the steady rain as its preface and, through repeated sounds, renders a longing that never stops.
A series of poems on rain begins here. The next poem, 2457, has "kosame furishiku" in its third line, the same scene as this poem's fourth line, "kosame furishiki." Where this poem likens the falling rain to unending longing, the next calls the beloved to come in that very rain.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "nubatama no": a pillow word for black things and the night, here attached to the "kuro" (black) of "Kurokamiyama." "Nubatama" are the black seeds of the blackberry lily.
Second line, "kurokamiyama no": Mount Kurokami is thought to be a hill in the north of Nara City. The pillow word and the name together layer the color black.
Third line, "yamasuge ni": "on the mountain sedge." One theory identifies "yamasuge" as lilyturf.
Fourth line, "kosame furishiki": "fine rain falling steadily." The first four lines form a preface, and the sound "shiki" of "furishiki" is echoed to lead into "shikushiku" in the last line.
Fifth line, "shikushiku omōyu": "you come to mind again and again." "Shikushiku" describes something continuing in waves, and "omōyu" means to be thought of unbidden, expressing a longing beyond control.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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