Hito shirezu ima ya ima ya to chihayaburu kamisaburu made kimi o koso mate - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人知れず今や今やとちはやぶる
神さぶるまで君をこそ待て

Roma-ji: Hito shirezu ima ya ima ya to chihayaburu kamisaburu made kimi o koso mate
English Translation: Unknown to others,
now at last, now at last, I—
swift and mighty god—
till I grew hoary with age
was waiting for you alone.
Meaning: Unknown to anyone, I waited for you, thinking now, now surely, until I grew ancient and hallowed with the passing years.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Poems on the Gods 1858

Headnote: "It is said that when Horikawa of Taikenmon'in went from Yamato to worship at Kumano, she dreamed she should visit Kasuga, but thinking to go later she passed it by, and on her way back the god delivered this oracle."
This is the seventh poem in the sequence of poems composed by the gods. The god says that, unknown to anyone, he waited for her coming, now and now again, for so long that he grew ancient. According to the left note, when Horikawa of Taikenmon'in went from Yamato to worship at Kumano, she dreamed that she should visit Kasuga, but thinking to go later she passed it by, and on her return the god delivered this oracle. It shows the god waiting faithfully for one who put off her visit.
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; the left note shows it to be the utterance of the Kasuga Deity. Horikawa of Taikenmon'in was a woman poet of the late Heian period, daughter of Minamoto no Akinaka, Chief of the Office of Divinities, and served Taikenmon'in, Fujiwara no Tamako, empress of Emperor Toba.

The first line, "hito shirezu," means "unknown to others," the god's secret waiting.
The second line, "ima ya ima ya to," means "now, is it now?"; the repetition conveys the longing of one who waits.
The third line, "chihayaburu," is a pillow word for "kami," "god."
The fourth line, "kamisaburu made," means "until I grew hallowed and aged." It speaks of the long passage of time and suits the fact that the one who waits is a god.
The last line, "kimi o koso mate," closes the particle "koso" with the perfective "mate" in kakari-musubi. This ending carries an adversative sense—I waited for you, and yet you passed me by—and so holds a note of reproach. Where the preceding poems of the Sumiyoshi Deity answered human questions, here the god himself waits for a person, leading on to "ware mo wasureji" in the next poem.
Author: Kasuga Deity (per the left note)
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Mutsumaji to kimi wa shiranami mizugaki no hisashiki yo yori iwaisometeki
Next Poem: Michi tōshi hodo mo haruka ni hedatareri omoi okose yo ware mo wasureji