Narukami no sukoshi toyomite sashi kumori ame mo furanu ka kimi o todomemu

鳴る神の少し響みてさし曇り
雨も降らぬか君を留めむ

Roma-ji: Narukami no sukoshi toyomite sashi kumori ame mo furanu ka kimi o todomemu
English Translation: If the thundering god
would rumble a little,
clouding all the sky,
would the rain not come falling?
Then I could keep you with me
Meaning: If only the thunder would rumble a little and the sky cloud over, and the rain come down; then I could keep you here.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2513

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Questions and Answers"
The woman wishes that the thunder would rumble a little, the sky cloud over, and the rain fall, so that she could keep her lover from leaving. Rather than holding him back directly, she longs for the weather to give her a pretext, and in this lies a modest and touching love.
The left note reads "the two poems above," and with the next poem it forms one exchange. To her wish, the man in the next poem answers that even if no rain falls, he will stay if she asks him to. The two poems share their first and second lines, so that the man takes up the woman's poem about using the rain as an excuse and returns a frank reply.
This pair of poems was quoted in Makoto Shinkai's animated film The Garden of Words (2013) and has become widely known.
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, "narukami no": "the thunder." "Narukami," the roaring god, conveys the ancient sense of revering thunder as a deity.
Second line, "sukoshi toyomite": "rumbling a little." Asking only for a little thunder, not a violent storm, holds a modest wish.
Third line, "sashi kumori": "clouding over." "Sashi" is a prefix that smooths the rhythm, picturing a sky that brings rain.
Fourth line, "ame mo furanu ka": "will the rain not fall? Let it fall." The attributive "nu" of the negative "zu" with "ka" expresses a wish, and the poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, "kimi o todomemu": "I would keep you here." The auxiliary "mu" expresses intention, revealing her true wish to have him stay, even with the rain as an excuse.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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