Ametsuchi no tomo ni hisashiku iitsuge to kono kushimitama shikashikerashi mo

天地のともに久しく言ひ継げと
この奇し御魂敷かしけらしも

Roma-ji: Ametsuchi no tomo ni hisashiku iitsuge to kono kushimitama shikashikerashi mo
English Translation: Together with
heaven and earth, forever
hand the tale on down —
for this, these wondrous spirit stones
were set here, so it seems
Meaning: It seems these wondrous spirit stones were set here so that their story might be handed down forever, as long as heaven and earth.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 814

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "At Kofu Plain in Fukae Village, Ito District, Chikuzen, on a hill overlooking the sea, there are two stones"
The poem says it seems these wondrous stones were placed here so their story would be told as long as heaven and earth endure. Following the long poem's account of the two stones that Empress Jingū tucked into her robe to calm herself on her way to Silla, it sums up why the stones have come down to the present.
The headnote says that on a seaside hill at Kofu Plain in Fukae Village there are two beautiful stones shaped like hen's eggs, before which every passerby, on public or private business, dismounts and kneels in worship; old men relate that Empress Jingū, when she set out to conquer Silla, placed these stones in her sleeve to calm her heart. The left note says the tale was passed on by Takebe no Ushimaro of Minoshima in Ichi Township, Naka District. No author is named, but the poem is generally attributed to Yamanoue no Okura. The legend of the calming stones also appears in the Kojiki and the Nihon shoki.
The poet, Yamanoue no Okura, was an official who went to Tang China as a junior secretary with the embassy appointed in Taihō 1. After his return he served as Governor of Hōki and in the household of the Crown Prince, and late in the Jinki era he was posted to Tsukushi as Governor of Chikuzen. He is known for poems rooted in everyday life, on the sufferings of human existence, love for family, and poverty, written against a background of learning in Chinese classics and Buddhist scripture.

First line, "ametsuchi no": heaven and earth, set as the emblem of what never changes.
Second line, "tomo ni hisashiku": forever, together with heaven and earth, a wish that the tradition endure.
Third line, "iitsuge to": "hand it on," a command, inferring the Empress's intention.
Fourth line, "kono kushimitama": spirits of wondrous power, praising the calming stones themselves as sacred.
Fifth line, "shikashikerashi mo": "shikasu" is an honorific "to set in place," and "kerashi" infers a past event from evidence: it seems the Empress placed them in this spot.
Author: Yamanoue no Okura (attributed)
Source: Manyoshu
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