Nubatama no yo wataru tsuki ni aramaseba ie naru imo ni aite komashi o

ぬばたまの夜渡る月にあらませば
家なる妹に逢ひて来ましを

Roma-ji: Nubatama no yo wataru tsuki ni aramaseba ie naru imo ni aite komashi o
English Translation: If only I were
the moon that crosses the sky
through the jet-black night,
to my love who waits at home
I could go and come again
Meaning: If only I were the moon that crosses the dark night sky, I could go to my wife at home and see her, and come back again.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3671

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Arriving at Karadomari in Shima District, Chikuzen Province, the ship lay at anchor for three days. The light of the night moon shone bright and flowing. Facing this splendor, our traveling hearts were choked with sorrow, and each expressed his feelings in six poems"
He voices an impossible wish: if he were the moon crossing the night sky, he could go and see his wife at home. The same moon shines over the capital, and in his yearning for the moon that crosses the sky freely is overlaid his frustration at being unable to meet his wife. It is an idea fitting for a night at Karadomari flooded with moonlight.
According to the headnote, this is one of six poems composed while the ship lay at anchor for three days at Karadomari in Shima District, Chikuzen Province, when the night moon shone bright and the travelers, facing its beauty, were choked with traveling sorrow and each expressed his feelings. Karadomari is thought to be near Miyaura in present-day Nishi Ward, Fukuoka, a harbor before leaving Tsukushi for the open sea. This poem has no left note, and the author is not named.

First line, "nubatama no": the black seed of the blackberry lily; from its blackness a pillow word for "night."
Second line, "yo wataru tsuki ni": the moon that crosses the night sky.
Third line, "aramaseba": "mase" is the irrealis of the counterfactual "mashi," answering "mashi" in the last line: if I were the moon.
Fourth line, "ie naru imo ni": "naru" is the attributive of "nari" expressing existence: to my wife who is at home.
Fifth line, "aite komashi o": "mashi" is counterfactual and "o" an exclamation with an adversative turn: I could meet her and come back, the poem ends.
Source: Manyoshu
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