Karikomo no hitoe o shikite sanuredomo kimi to shi nureba samukeku mo nashi

刈り薦の一重を敷きてさ寝れども
君とし寝れば寒けくもなし

Roma-ji: Karikomo no hitoe o shikite sanuredomo kimi to shi nureba samukeku mo nashi
English Translation: Cut rushes for a bed,
a single layer spread out,
there I lie, and yet
since it is with you I sleep,
I feel no chill at all
Meaning: Though we lie on nothing but a single layer of cut rushes, sleeping with you, I do not feel the cold at all.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2520

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Though she sleeps on a poor bed of a single layer of cut rushes, sleeping with him, she feels no cold at all: so a woman sings of the joy of lying together. Setting the chill of a humble bed against the warmth of the beloved, she simply expresses her contentment.
This is a poem expressing feelings directly, and though it pictures the everyday detail of a rush bed, its theme is the happiness of sleeping together. Where the preceding poem is a man outside the door asking to meet, this poem sings the contentment of a woman already lying with her love, so the two contrast the time before meeting and after.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "karikomo no": "of cut rushes." "Komo" is wild rice growing at the water's edge, woven into mats for bedding.
Second line, "hitoe o shikite": "spreading but a single layer," showing how humble the bed is, with only one mat laid down.
Third line, "sanuredomo": "though we sleep." "Sa" is a prefix that smooths the rhythm, and "domo" marks a concessive condition.
Fourth line, "kimi to shi nureba": "since I sleep with you." The particle "shi" stresses "kimi to," expressing that it is because it is with none other than him.
Fifth line, "samukeku mo nashi": "there is no cold at all." "Samukeku" is the nominalized form of the adjective "samushi," meaning "coldness," and with "mo" and "nashi" it is denied, closing in contentment.
Source: Manyoshu
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