Nubatama no yo wataru tsuki no sayakeku wa yoku mitemashi o kimi ga sugata o

ぬばたまの夜渡る月のさやけくは
よく見てましを君が姿を

Roma-ji: Nubatama no yo wataru tsuki no sayakeku wa yoku mitemashi o kimi ga sugata o
English Translation: If the moon that crossed
the jet-black sky last night
had shone out clear,
I would have looked so well
upon your form, my lord
Meaning: If the moon crossing the dark night sky had shone clearly, I would have looked long at you as you left.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3007

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
A woman regrets their dawn parting, saying that had the moon been bright she could have watched her departing lover well. Like the book's opening poem, 2841, it sings of regret at not having seen the man's departing figure clearly.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.

Line one, "nubatama no," is a pillow word for "yo," night.
Line two, "yo wataru tsuki no," means "the moon crossing the night."
Line three, "sayakeku wa," means "if it had been clear," a counterfactual condition corresponding to "mashi" in line four.
Line four, "yoku mitemashi o," means "I would have looked well." It uses the same words as "yoku mizute" in the book's opening poem, 2841, regretting what was not seen.
Line five, "kimi ga sugata o," means "your figure," inverted with line four.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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