Yūdachi no ame uchifureba Kasugano no obana ga ure no shiratsuyu omōyu

夕立の雨うち降れば春日野の
尾花が末の白露思ほゆ

Roma-ji: Yūdachi no ame uchifureba Kasugano no obana ga ure no shiratsuyu omōyu
English Translation: When the evening shower
comes pelting down in a rush,
I picture Kasuga,
and on the tips of its plumes
the white dew sparkling there.
Meaning: When an evening shower comes pelting down, I find myself thinking of the white dew on the tips of the plume grass in Kasuga Fields.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3819

Headnote: none; the left note to the next poem reads: "Whenever Prince Kodai took up the koto on a banquet day, he would always first chant these two poems. This Prince Kodai was also called Okisome no Takumi."
When an evening shower falls, the poet's mind turns to the white dew on the plume grass of Kasuga Fields. Listening to the rain, he pictures the glitter of dew on a distant moor in a fresh, clear landscape poem.
According to the left note, whenever Prince Kodai took up the koto on a banquet day, he would always first chant this poem and the next. It also records that Prince Kodai was otherwise known as Okisome no Takumi.
Prince Kodai is a little-known figure whom the left note identifies as Okisome no Takumi; he may belong to the same clan as Okisome no Azumahito, named in a headnote in Book Three.
Book Ten, 2169, preserves "Each time the evening shower falls, I think of the white dew on the plume grass of Kasuga Fields," a poem of nearly the same form.

First line, "yūdachi no," means "of an evening shower," a sudden rain at dusk.
Second line, "ame uchifureba," means "when the rain comes pelting down." Uchi is a prefix adding force to the action.
Third line, "Kasugano no," names Kasuga Fields east of the Nara capital.
Fourth line, "obana ga ure no," means "on the tips of the plume grass."
Final line, "shiratsuyu omōyu," means "the white dew comes to mind." Omōyu means something rises unbidden in thought, carrying the mind from the rain before him to dew on a distant moor.
Author: Prince Kodai (recited)
Source: Manyoshu
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