Aki no yo o nagami ni ka aramu nazo kokoba i no neraenu mo hitori nureba ka

秋の夜を長みにかあらむなぞここば
寐の寝らえぬもひとり寝ればか

Roma-ji: Aki no yo o nagami ni ka aramu nazo kokoba i no neraenu mo hitori nureba ka
English Translation: Is it because
the autumn nights are long,
that so very much
I cannot fall asleep,
or because I sleep alone
Meaning: Is it because the autumn nights are long that I cannot sleep at all, or is it because I sleep alone?
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3684

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Seven poems composed on the night the ship anchored at Komashima Lodge in Matsura District, Hizen Province, each man gazing far over the waves and grieving in his traveling heart"
He asks himself why he cannot sleep at all: is it because the autumn nights are long, or because he sleeps alone? While seeking the reason in the long autumn night, he reveals at the end that the true reason is sleeping alone without his wife, and his longing for her seeps through the form of the question. The same feeling as in 3680 at Hikitsu Lodge, "yo o nagami i no neraenu ni," is deepened here into a question.
According to the headnote, this is one of seven poems composed on the night the ship anchored at Komashima Lodge in Matsura District, Hizen Province, each gazing far over the waves and expressing the grief of travel. Komashima is thought to be Kashiwajima Island in present-day Karatsu, Saga Prefecture, a harbor before the crossing to Iki. This poem has no left note, and the author is not named.

First line, "aki no yo o": the autumn night.
Second line, "nagami ni ka aramu": "nagami" is the stem of "nagashi" with "mi," and "ka" interrogative: is it because it is long? The poem breaks after the second line.
Third line, "nazo kokoba": "nazo" means why and "kokoba" so very much.
Fourth line, "i no neraenu mo": that I cannot sleep, the same expression "i no neraenu" as in 3680 at Hikitsu Lodge and elsewhere.
Fifth line, "hitori nureba ka": "ka" is interrogative: or is it because I sleep alone? The poem ends with a question paired with the second line.
Source: Manyoshu
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