Shitsutamaki kazu ni mo aranu mi ni wa aredo chitose ni mo ga to omōyuru kamo

しつたまき数にもあらぬ身にはあれど
千年にもがと思ほゆるかも

Roma-ji: Shitsutamaki kazu ni mo aranu mi ni wa aredo chitose ni mo ga to omōyuru kamo
English Translation: Like a humble bracelet,
I am not worth counting,
such a one I am,
and yet a thousand years of life
is what I find myself wishing
Meaning: Like a plain cloth bracelet, I am a person of no account, yet I find myself wishing to live a thousand years.
Commentary: Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 903

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Seven poems on suffering for years from grave illness in old age, and on thinking of my children: one long, six short"
The poet says that though he is a person of no account, he finds himself wishing to live a thousand years. Carrying the preceding poem's wish further, he humbles himself yet frankly admits a strong attachment to life.
After the poem is a note saying that it was written in Jinki 2 but is placed here because of its similar content. The note is not part of the poem and has been removed.
This is one of the tanka among seven poems on suffering for years from grave illness in old age and on thinking of one's children; the seven consist of one long poem and six tanka. The long poem laments that although one would wish life to be peaceful to its end, illness has been added to old age, so that the poet sighs by day and groans by night, and though he thinks of dying he cannot bring himself to abandon his noisy children. The left note dates it to the third day of the sixth month of Tenpyō 5.
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, "shitsutamaki": a plain bracelet of native cloth, a pillow word for "of no account."
Second line, "kazu ni mo aranu": "not even counted," of no importance.
Third line, "mi ni wa aredo": six syllables, one more than the norm: "though I am such a one."
Fourth line, "chitose ni mo ga to": "may it be a thousand years," the same pattern as the preceding poem's "may it be a thousand fathoms," shifting the measure of length from rope to years.
Fifth line, "omōyuru kamo": "kamo" exclaims: so I find myself thinking.
Author: Yamanoue no Okura
Source: Manyoshu
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