Otomera ga sode furu yama no mizukaki no hisashiki toki yu omoiki ware wa

娘子らが袖布留山の瑞垣の
久しき時ゆ思ひき我れは

Roma-ji: Otomera ga sode furu yama no mizukaki no hisashiki toki yu omoiki ware wa
English Translation: As the maidens wave
their sleeves, so on Mount Furu
stands the sacred fence,
from a time long, long ago
I have loved you, I have loved
Meaning: Like the sacred fence on Mount Furu, where the maidens wave their sleeves, standing since ancient days, so from long, long ago I have loved you.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 501

Headnote: "Three poems by Kakinomoto no Asomi Hitomaro"
With the sacred fence on Mount Furu, home of the Isonokami Shrine, as its preface, this poem declares that the poet has loved since long ago. It likens the age of the fence where the god dwells to the length of his love, pleading the depth and constancy of his feeling. The rich layering of pillow word and preface carries Hitomaro's characteristic dignity.
The author, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu; a master of both long and short poems, he was revered by later ages as the saint of poetry.
Much loved in later times, it was included in the Shūishū with its last two lines changed to hisashiki yo yori omoisometeki.

First line, "As the maidens wave," means the maidens, and since maidens wave their sleeves, it draws out sode furu in the second line.
Second line, "their sleeves, so on Mount Furu," plays on furu, "to wave," and the place name Furu. Mount Furu rises behind the Isonokami Shrine in Yamato, and with the first line the phrase works like a pillow word leading to Furu.
Third line, "stands the sacred fence," is the fence enclosing the shrine precinct, here the ancient fence of Isonokami; the first three lines form a preface introducing "long" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "from a time long, long ago," uses yu, an old particle of origin: since ages past.
Fifth line, "I have loved you, I have loved," uses the past auxiliary ki: I have loved all along. By inversion "I" comes last, stressing the strength of his feeling.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Kamukaze no ise no hamaogi orifusete tabine ya suramu araki hamabe ni
Next Poem: Natsuno yuku oshika no tsuno no tsuka no ma mo imo ga kokoro o wasurete omoe ya