Tamakiharu inochi wa shirazu matsu ga e o musubu kokoro wa nagaku to zo omou

たまきはる命は知らず松が枝を
結ぶ心は長くとぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Tamakiharu inochi wa shirazu matsu ga e o musubu kokoro wa nagaku to zo omou
English Translation: Life that is the soul's—
how long it lasts, none can know;
yet the pine's branches
as I tie them, this my heart:
long may it be, so I pray
Meaning: How long a life may last, no one can know. Yet as I tie the branches of the pine, my heart is set on this: that life may be long.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 1043

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems from a drinking party when people climbed Ikuji Hill on the eleventh day of the same month and gathered beneath a single pine"
The poem says that one cannot know how long a human life will last, yet the heart that ties the branches of the pine holds a wish to live long. It is the second of two poems from the drinking party beneath the lone pine on Ikuji Hill on the eleventh day of the first month of Tenpyō 16 (744), and the left note shows it was composed by Ōtomo no Yakamochi.
Tying the branches of a pine was an old custom of praying for safety and long life. Just as Prince Arima sang in Book Two, 141, "I tie the branches of the beach pines at Iwashiro," tying pine branches has long carried a prayer for one's life to be kept safe. This poem performs that custom at a banquet and voices the wish for long life for all who are gathered.
The poet, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of Ōtomo no Tabito, and at this time he served close to Emperor Shōmu as a palace attendant (udoneri). He later rose to the rank of Middle Counselor and is regarded as a leading poet of the Nara period who was deeply involved in the compilation of the Man'yōshū.

Where the preceding poem, 1042, sang of the "ages" the pine had passed, this poem wishes for a long life ahead with "long may it be," and together they form a pair treating the pine's long time from both past and future.
The first line, "Life that is the soul's," renders "tamakiharu," a pillow word modifying "life."
The second line, "how long it lasts, none can know," means one cannot know how long a life will last; the sense breaks here, making this a poem with a pause after the second line. It states plainly the frailty of human life.
The third line, "yet the pine's branches," refers to the branches of the pine. The pine, ever green, is a symbol of long life, and the line takes up the "lone pine" of the preceding poem.
The fourth line, "as I tie them, this my heart," means "the heart that ties the branches," showing the feeling placed in the custom of praying for safety and long life.
The final line, "long may it be, so I pray," means "I wish it to be long." Answering the emphatic particle "zo," the verb "omou" takes its attributive form in a kakari-musubi construction, and while contrasting with "none can know" in the second line, it firmly declares the wish for long life.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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