Kamunazuki amama mo okazu furi ni seba izure no sato no yado ka karamashi

十月雨間も置かず降りにせば
いづれの里の宿か借らまし

Roma-ji: Kamunazuki amama mo okazu furi ni seba izure no sato no yado ka karamashi
English Translation: In the tenth month
if the rain should never pause
but keep on falling,
in which village, I wonder,
should I seek an inn
Meaning: If the tenth month's rain were to fall without a break, in which village should I seek shelter?
Commentary: Book Twelve Dialogue Poems 3214

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Dialogue Poems"
A man answers the preceding question: if the tenth month's rain fell without a break, in which village should he seek shelter? Answering with the same opening line, it conveys the uncertainty of travel.
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, "kamunazuki," is the tenth lunar month, the same opening as the preceding poem.
Line two, "amama mo okazu," means "without a break in the rain."
Line three, "furi ni seba," means "if it were to keep falling," a counterfactual condition corresponding to "mashi" in line five.
Line four, "izure no sato no," means "of which village."
Line five, "yado ka karamashi," means "should I borrow lodging?", answering "yado ka karuramu" in the preceding poem.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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