Ame ni masu tsukuyomi otoko mai wa semu koyoi no nagasa ioyo tsugi koso

天にます月読壮士賄はせむ
今夜の長さ五百夜継ぎこそ

Roma-ji: Ame ni masu tsukuyomi otoko mai wa semu koyoi no nagasa ioyo tsugi koso
English Translation: You who dwell in heaven,
Tsukuyomi, youthful moon,
I shall bring you gifts—
the length of this one night,
join five hundred nights to it
Meaning: O youthful moon, Tsukuyomi, dwelling in heaven, I will bring you gifts: join the length of this one night to five hundred nights.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 985

Headnote: "Two poems on the moon by Prince Yuhara"
The poem promises a gift to Tsukuyomi-otoko, the moon god dwelling in heaven, and asks him in return to make tonight as long as five hundred nights joined together. In this book, from 980 through 987, eight poems on the moon by different poets are arranged in succession. This is the first of Prince Yuhara's two moon poems and the sixth poem of the sequence.
Calling the moon Tsukuyomi-otoko and treating it like a person, the poem asks that the night be lengthened in exchange for a gift, a bold and generous conceit. The wish that tonight, pleasant or precious as it is, might last even a little longer is expressed through the exaggeration of five hundred nights.
The poet, Prince Yuhara, was a son of Prince Shiki, himself a son of Emperor Tenji, and was a poet of the early Nara period.

Likening the moon to a man as "Tsukuyomi-otoko" shares with "Sasara-e-otoko" in 983 the personification of the moon as a young man, "otoko." The wish to stretch the length of tonight to five hundred nights also corresponds to "I long to have this short life last long" in 975, both wishing that something short be long, one on the scale of a single night and the other on the scale of a lifetime.
The first line, "You who dwell in heaven," means "who are in heaven," with "masu" an honorific for "to be." It reveres the moon as a god in heaven.
The second line, "Tsukuyomi, youthful moon," is a name that likens Tsukuyomi, god of the moon, to a young man, and here serves as a form of address.
The third line, "I shall bring you gifts," means "I will make an offering." "Mai" is a gift or reward to a god or the like, and "mu" expresses will. The sense breaks here, after the third line.
The fourth line, "the length of this one night," refers to the length of this single night, carrying regret that it is so limited.
The final line, "join five hundred nights to it," means "please join five hundred nights together," with "koso" a final particle expressing a wish directed at another. Through the exaggeration of five hundred nights it shows how strongly the speaker cherishes this night.
Author: Prince Yuhara
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Kumogakuri yukue o nami to aga kouru tsuki o ya kimi ga mimaku hori suru
Next Poem: Hashikiyashi machikaki sato no kimi komu to ōnobi ni kamo tsuki no teritaru