Kawa no se no ishi fumiwatari nubatama no kuroma kuru yo wa tsune ni aranu kamo

川の瀬の石踏み渡りぬばたまの
黒馬来る夜は常にあらぬかも

Roma-ji: Kawa no se no ishi fumiwatari nubatama no kuroma kuru yo wa tsune ni aranu kamo
English Translation: Over the shallows,
treading on the river stones,
on your jet-black horse—
the nights when you come to me,
if only they were always so
Meaning: Crossing the river shallows over the stones, you come on your black horse—if only every night could be such a night.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Dialogue Poems 3313

Headnote: "Envoy"
This is the envoy to the woman’s reply chōka (3312). She wishes that the nights when he crosses the river stones and comes on his black horse could be every night. The chōka is the answer of a woman to the sovereign who came courting in the little land of Hatsuse: her mother sleeps in the inner bed and her father in the outer, so that if she rises her mother will know, and if she goes out her father will know—things cannot go as she wishes. The envoy shows a heart that, though unable to receive him tonight, longs for his visits to continue. The chōka 3303 in this book also has “riding a jet-black horse, crossing seven river shallows,” sharing the image of a husband who comes across rivers on a black horse.
The poet is unknown. Book Thirteen is built mainly of anonymous chōka and their envoys, and many of its poems preserve the air of old songs and ritual verse.

The first line, “kawa no se no,” means “of the river shallows,” the river lying on the path of his visits.
The second line, “ishi fumiwatari,” means “crossing by treading the stones,” answering the man’s envoy (3311), “though I tread on stones.”
The third line, “nubatama no,” is a pillow word for “black,” since the nubatama seed is black.
The fourth line, “kuroma kuru yo wa,” means “the nights when you come on your black horse,” expressing his visits through the horse he rides.
In the closing line, “nu kamo” joins the negative to “kamo”: “would that it were always so,” expressing a wish; it is hypermetric.
Source: Manyoshu
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