Nubatama no yo wa akenurashi Tama no ura ni asari suru tazu nakiwataru nari

ぬばたまの夜は明けぬらし玉の浦に
あさりする鶴鳴き渡るなり

Roma-ji: Nubatama no yo wa akenurashi Tama no ura ni asari suru tazu nakiwataru nari
English Translation: The jet-black night
seems now to have given way;
in the Bay of Tama
the cranes that seek their food
are crying as they pass
Meaning: The dark night seems already to have broken; I hear the cranes that forage in Tama Bay crying as they fly across.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3598

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "The envoys sent to Silla grieve at parting and exchange poems, express their sorrowful feelings on the sea route, and recite old poems suited to the places they pass"
Hearing cranes crying aboard ship, he knows that the night has broken. Sensing the dawn by sound before confirming the light with his eyes conveys the true feel of daybreak on a sea voyage. Tama Bay is thought to be near present-day Tamashima in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture, in old Bitchū. Foraging cranes appear again in 3642 of this book in the same phrase, "asari suru tazu."
A left note reads "the above eight poems were composed after boarding the ship and entering the sea route"; the eight poems from 3594 to 3601 were made once the ship had put out to sea. The author is not named.

First line, "nubatama no": "nubatama" is the black seed of the blackberry lily; from its blackness it is a pillow word for "night."
Second line, "yo wa akenurashi": "nu" is perfective and "rashi" grounded inference: the night seems to have broken. The poem breaks after the second line.
Third line, "Tama no ura ni": Tama Bay in Bitchū Province, thought to be near present-day Tamashima in Kurashiki, Okayama Prefecture.
Fourth line, "asari suru tazu": "asaru" means to search for food; the cranes forage on the tidal flats.
Fifth line, "nakiwataru nari": "nari" is an auxiliary of inference from sound: I hear them crying as they fly across. These voices are the ground for the inference of the second line.
Source: Manyoshu
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