Nubatama no yo wataru tsuki no yutsurinaba sara ni ya imo ni a ga koi oramu

ぬばたまの夜渡る月のゆつりなば
さらにや妹に我が恋ひ居らむ

Roma-ji: Nubatama no yo wataru tsuki no yutsurinaba sara ni ya imo ni a ga koi oramu
English Translation: In the jet-black night
the moon crossing the heavens:
should it move away
would I be longing for you,
my love, ever more and more
Meaning: If the moon crossing the jet-black night should move on and set, would I go on longing for my beloved all the more?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2673

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
The speaker foresees that once the moon crossing the night has set, longing for the beloved may grow even stronger. A heart sustained by gazing at the moon fears it will be all the more troubled once the moon is gone.
This poem closes the run of poems on the moon and shares its third line "yutsurinaba" with poem 2670 of this book. Where 2670 states flatly "my love would only grow," this poem ends with a question, treating the same idea in a different tone.
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, "nubatama no": a pillow word attached to "night." From the black berries of the nubatama it evokes the depth of nocturnal darkness.
Second line, "yo wataru tsuki no": "the moon crossing the night sky." The particle "no" marks the subject.
Third line, "yutsurinaba": "if it should move away." "Yutsuru" is an older form of "utsuru," and the phrase is the same as in poem 2670 of this book.
Fourth line, "sara ni ya imo ni": "all the more for my beloved." The particle "ya" poses a question and corresponds to "ramu" in the last line.
Fifth line, "a ga koi oramu": "would I go on longing?" The attributive form of "ramu" answers "ya" in the fourth line in a kakarimusubi, and "ori" expresses the state of continuing to long.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Kono yama no mine ni chikashi to wa ga mitsuru tsuki no sora naru koi mo suru kamo
Next Poem: Kutamiyama yū iru kumo no usure yukaba are wa koimu na kimi ga me o hori