Ama no hara furisake mireba ōkimi no miinochi wa nagaku amatarashitari

天の原振り放け見れば大君の
御寿は長く天足らしたり

Roma-ji: Ama no hara furisake mireba ōkimi no miinochi wa nagaku amatarashitari
English Translation: When I raise my eyes
and gaze far across the sky,
our great lord's life
stretches long, and fills the heavens
to their utmost, full and whole.
Meaning: When I look up far into the wide heavens, I see that our great lord's life is long, filling the sky to its utmost.
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 147

Headnote: "A poem offered by the Great Empress when the Emperor lay ill"
When Emperor Tenji lay gravely ill, she gazed up at the sky and blessed him, declaring that his life was long and filled the heavens, praying for his recovery. It is a prayer upheld by the belief in kotodama, that words spoken bring about what they say.
With this poem begins the group of Ōmi-court elegies on the illness and death of Emperor Tenji, under the section heading "the reign of the Emperor who ruled from the Ōtsu Palace in Ōmi." According to the headnote, this poem was offered by the Great Empress during the Emperor's illness.
The author, Yamato no Hime no Ōkimi, was the empress of Emperor Tenji and a daughter of Prince Furuhito no Ōe, a son of Emperor Jomei. The headnotes call her the Great Empress or the Great Empress Yamato.

The first line, "ama no hara," means the broad expanse of the sky.
The second line, "furisake mireba," means "when I look up far away," with ba marking a condition that has been met.
The third line, "ōkimi no," refers to Emperor Tenji.
The fourth line, "miinochi wa nagaku," means "the great lord's life is long."
The final line, "amatarashitari," means "fills the heavens to the full," asserting with the honorific su and the stative tari, and blessing the long life of the Emperor.
Author: Yamato no Hime no Ōkimi
Source: Manyoshu
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