Nubatama no yoru mishi kimi o akuru ashita awazu ma ni shite ima zo kuyashiki

ぬばたまの夜見し君を明くる朝
逢はずまにして今ぞ悔しき

Roma-ji: Nubatama no yoru mishi kimi o akuru ashita awazu ma ni shite ima zo kuyashiki
English Translation: You whom I had seen
through the jet-black night,
when morning broke
I let you go unseen;
how I regret it now
Meaning: I saw you through the dark night, but when morning broke I let you go without meeting you again; how I regret it now.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3769

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
She sings that she regrets now having let him go without meeting him on the morning after the night they spent together. It is thought to express regret that, though they met on the eve of parting, she parted without seeing him off on the morning of departure. It is a poignant poem recalling a morning of parting that cannot be undone.
The author, Sano no Otogami no Otome, was a lady-in-waiting of low rank known as a nyoju, serving in the palace storehouse office; she is also written Sano no Chigami no Otome.
A left note reads "the above eight poems are by the young woman"; the eight poems from 3767 to 3774 of this book were sent by the young woman to Yakamori. The latter half of this book contains sixty-three poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome. According to the book's table of contents, when Yakamori took as his wife the young woman, a lady-in-waiting of the palace storehouse office, he was exiled to Echizen Province by imperial decree. The place of exile is thought to be Ajimano in Echizen, near present-day Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture.

First line, "nubatama no": a pillow word for "night."
Second line, "yoru mishi kimi o": "miru" means to meet, and "shi" is the attributive of the past "ki": you whom I met at night.
Third line, "akuru ashita": the morning when the night broke; a six-syllable hypermetric line.
Fourth line, "awazu ma ni shite": "ma" means as it was: leaving it without meeting.
Fifth line, "ima zo kuyashiki": "zo" is a binding particle resolved by the attributive "kuyashiki" (kakarimusubi): how I regret it now, the poem ends.
Author: Sano no Otogami no Otome
Source: Manyoshu
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