Yorozuyo ni tazusawari ite aimi tomo omoisugubeki koi ni aranaku ni

万代にたづさはり居て相見とも
思ひ過ぐべき恋にあらなくに

Roma-ji: Yorozuyo ni tazusawari ite aimi tomo omoisugubeki koi ni aranaku ni
English Translation: Though for ten thousand years
hand in hand we were to stay,
meeting face to face,
this is not a love that ends
simply fading, passing by.
Meaning: Even if we stayed hand in hand for ten thousand ages, meeting each other, this is not a love whose longing would ever pass away.
Commentary: Book Ten Autumn Miscellaneous Poems 2024

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Tanabata"
This poem sings of the depth of the stars' love: even if they stayed hand in hand for ten thousand ages, it is not a love whose longing would be spent. The hyperbole of a love unsatisfied even by a span equal to eternity makes the ache of meeting only once a year stand out all the more. Taking up "sugu" of "koi mo sugineba" in the preceding poem, it shows on the scale of ten thousand ages that this love will never pass.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet of the Asuka period, active under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. The left note records that this poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, and it is uncertain whether it is Hitomaro's own work or a poem by someone else that he recorded.

The first line, "for ten thousand ages," names a vast span of time.
The second line, "staying hand in hand," describes their togetherness.
In the third line, "aimi tomo," "tomo" marks a concessive supposition: even if we met.
In the fourth line, "omoisugubeki," "sugu" means for feelings to be spent, the same word as "sugine" in the preceding poem.
In the last line, "koi ni aranaku ni," "naku ni" is a nominalized negative with "ni": it is not such a love.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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