Yasumishishi waga ōkimi no osu kuni wa yamato mo koko mo oyaji to zo omou

やすみしし我が大君の食す国は
大和もここも同じとぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Yasumishishi waga ōkimi no osu kuni wa yamato mo koko mo oyaji to zo omou
English Translation: All the lands ruled well
by our great sovereign lord—
the realm that he holds:
Yamato and here as well
are one and the same, I think
Meaning: In the realm our great sovereign governs, Yamato and this place here are one and the same, I think.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 956

Headnote: "A poem by Lord Ōtomo, the Governor-General, in reply"
This poem says that since this is the realm our great sovereign governs, Yamato, where the capital lies, and this land of Tsukushi are one and the same. It answers the preceding poem, 955, in which Ishikawa no Taruhito asked whether the poet longed for the hills of Saho in the capital.
Speaking from his public position as Governor-General of the Dazaifu, Tabito says there is no near or far in the land ruled by the emperor, and so sets aside his longing for home. Yet some read in the very firmness of "are one and the same, I think" a heart striving to hold down its yearning for the capital.
The poet, Ōtomo no Tabito, was the son of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and the father of Yakamochi. Toward the end of the Jinki era he went down to Tsukushi as Governor-General of the Dazaifu, and in Tenpyō 2 (730) he became a Major Counselor and returned to the capital. He died the following year, Tenpyō 3.

Where the preceding poem asks whether the poet thinks of "the hills of Saho" in the capital, this poem sets "Yamato and here" side by side and calls them the same, completing the pair of question and answer.
The first line, "All the lands ruled well," renders "yasumishishi," a pillow word attached to "our great sovereign." It is thought to carry the sense of ruling the realm in peace.
The second line, "by our great sovereign lord," refers to the emperor, praising him from a public standpoint.
The third line, "the realm that he holds," means "the land that he governs," "osu" being an honorific verb for ruling.
The fourth line, "Yamato and here as well," means both Yamato, where the capital lies, and this land of Tsukushi. It takes up the preceding poem's "hills of Saho" with the larger "Yamato" and sets it against "here."
The final line, "are one and the same, I think," uses "oyaji," an old form of "onaji," "same." The binding particle "zo" is concluded by "omou" in the attributive form, a kakari-musubi construction that makes the statement emphatic.
Author: Ōtomo no Tabito
Source: Manyoshu
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