Mutsumaji to kimi wa shiranami mizugaki no hisashiki yo yori iwaisometeki - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

睦まじと君はしらなみ瑞垣の
久しき世より斎ひ初めてき

Roma-ji: Mutsumaji to kimi wa shiranami mizugaki no hisashiki yo yori iwaisometeki
English Translation: How close I hold you—
you know it not, as white waves break;
from sacred fences'
long-ago and ancient age
I began to guard your reign.
Meaning: You may not know how dearly I hold you, yet since an age as ancient as the sacred fences of this shrine, I have been blessing and guarding you.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Poems on the Gods 1857

Headnote: "The Tales of Ise records that when the emperor made a progress to Sumiyoshi, the great deity appeared in visible form."
This is the sixth poem in the sequence of poems composed by the gods. The god tells the emperor that, though he may not know it, the god has held him dear and guarded him since ages long past. According to the left note, the Tales of Ise records that when the emperor made a progress to Sumiyoshi, the great deity of Sumiyoshi appeared and composed it. The god reveals that he has protected the emperor's reign from time immemorial.
The poem has no headnote; a left note follows it instead. In this text the left note is placed under the number of the next poem, but its content shows that it belongs to this poem, so it is cited here as the headnote.
No author is named in the original. According to the left note, the poem is regarded as the utterance of the great deity of Sumiyoshi.
In section 117 of the Tales of Ise, the emperor composes "Ware mite mo / hisashiku narinu / suminoe no / kishi no himematsu / ikuyo henuran" ("Even in my own sight it has grown old—the little pine on the shore of Sumiyoshi: how many ages has it passed?"), and the great deity appears in answer and composes this poem. The emperor's poem also appears in the Kokin Wakashū as anonymous.

The first line, "mutsumaji to," means "that I hold you dear," the intimacy the god feels toward the emperor.
In the second line, "kimi wa shiranami," "shiranami" is a pivot word joining "shiranami," "not knowing," and "shiranami," "white waves." "Kimi" is the emperor; to "though you may not know" is added the scene of white waves breaking on the beach at Sumiyoshi.
The third line, "mizugaki no," is the sacred fence around a shrine, and it also serves as a pillow word for "hisashi," "long-lasting."
The fourth line, "hisashiki yo yori," means "from a distant age." It takes up "hisashiku narinu" in the emperor's poem.
The last line, "iwaisometeki," means "I began to bless and guard you." With the past auxiliary "ki," the god speaks with certainty of his own past deeds. Where the emperor asked the age of the pine, the god answers with the length of the years he has guarded the emperor. As in the preceding poem, where a god answered one who asked the age of the pine of Suminoe, a divine reply to a question follows.
Author: Sumiyoshi Deity (per the left note)
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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