Nagato naru okitsu karishima okumaete aga mou kimi wa chitose ni mo gamo

長門なる沖つ借島奥まへて
我が思ふ君は千年にもがも

Roma-ji: Nagato naru okitsu karishima okumaete aga mou kimi wa chitose ni mo gamo
English Translation: Out from Nagato,
like Karishima offshore,
deep within my heart
I hold you, and you, my lord,
may you live a thousand years
Meaning: Like Karishima lying offshore from Nagato, deep in my heart I hold you, my lord; may you live a thousand years.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 1024

Headnote: "Four poems from a banquet at the house of the Minister of the Right, Tachibana, on the twentieth day of the eighth month, in autumn"
This poem celebrates the long life of the host of the banquet, the Minister of the Right Tachibana no Moroe, wishing that the lord whom the poet holds deep in his heart may live a thousand years. Using Karishima, an island off the coast of Nagato where he served, as an introductory image, the poet expresses his devotion from his own position as governor of Nagato.
According to the headnote, these are four poems from a banquet held at the house of the Minister of the Right, Tachibana no Moroe, on the twentieth day of the eighth month in autumn. The headnote gives no year, but the arrangement suggests the banquet took place in Tenpyō 10 (738). Moroe had become Minister of the Right in the first month of that year, and officials gathered for a banquet at his residence.
The left note reads "The above poem is by Kose no Asomi Tsushima, governor of Nagato," identifying him as its author.
The poet, Kose no Tsushima, was an official of the Nara period who, according to the left note, was governor of Nagato at the time. Little else is known of his career.

The phrases "deep within my heart" and "a thousand years" are taken up word for word by Moroe in the next poem, 1025, "deep within his heart" and "a thousand years, five hundred years," so that the one being honored returns the wish for long life to the one who honored him, forming a paired composition.
The first line, "Out from Nagato," names at the outset the province where the poet served.
The second line, "like Karishima offshore," means "Karishima in the open sea," with "tsu" as an attributive particle. The first two lines form an introductory phrase that leads, through "oki," "offshore," to its homophone "oku," "deep," in the third line. The location of Karishima is uncertain.
The third line, "deep within my heart," picks up the sound of "offshore" from the introductory phrase and turns it, moving the poem from the sea of a distant province to the depth of the poet's own feeling.
The fourth line, "I hold you, and you, my lord," refers to the host, Tachibana no Moroe.
The final line, "may you live a thousand years," uses the wishing particle "mogamo" and closes the poem with a blessing for the host's long life.
Author: Kose no Tsushima
Source: Manyoshu
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