Aki no yo wa akatoki samushi shirotae no imo ga koromode kimu yoshi mo gamo

秋の夜は暁寒し白栲の
妹が衣手着むよしもがも

Roma-ji: Aki no yo wa akatoki samushi shirotae no imo ga koromode kimu yoshi mo gamo
English Translation: On autumn nights, how
cold it grows before the dawn—
if only there were
some way to wear the white sleeves
of my beloved's robe
Meaning: Autumn nights grow cold toward dawn—if only I had some way to wear the white sleeves of my beloved's robe.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3945

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems from a banquet gathered at the residence of Governor Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi on the night of the seventh day of the eighth month"
Autumn nights grow cold toward dawn; if only there were a way to wear his wife's sleeves—a poem longing for his wife in the capital. This is one of the poems from a banquet held on the night of the seventh day of the eighth month of 746, when the provincial officials gathered at the residence of Yakamochi, newly arrived as Governor of Etchū. Using the chill of autumn nights as pretext, he voices a longing to sleep beside his faraway wife, drawing the sympathy of fellow officials far from home.
The poet, Ōtomo no Ikenushi, served as Secretary of Etchū under Governor Yakamochi. A member of the same clan and well versed in Chinese verse and prose, he exchanged many poems and letters with Yakamochi during the Etchū years.
The left note reads, "The above three poems are by Secretary Ōtomo no Sukune Ikenushi."

First line, "aki no yo wa": "autumn nights," setting the season.
Second line, "akatoki samushi": akatoki is the dark hour before dawn; the poem pauses here. Like "akikaze samushi" in 3947, it sings of autumn cold.
Third line, "shirotae no": "of white cloth," a pillow word for robes and sleeves.
Fourth line, "imo ga koromode": the sleeves of his wife's robe, evoking the exchange of sleeves in shared sleep.
Fifth line, "kimu yoshi mo gamo": yoshi means a means or way and mogamo is a particle of wishing—"if only there were a way to wear them." It answers the last line of the next poem, 3946, "yoshi mo aranaku ni," through the same word yoshi.
Author: Ōtomo no Ikenushi
Source: Manyoshu
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