Otomera o sode furu yama no mizukaki no hisashiki toki yu omoi keri ware wa

娘子らを袖振る山の瑞垣の
久しき時ゆ思ひけり我れは

Roma-ji: Otomera o sode furu yama no mizukaki no hisashiki toki yu omoi keri ware wa
English Translation: Like the hallowed fence
on Furu Hill, where maidens
wave their sleeves aloft,
from long ages past my heart
has been longing, mine has been
Meaning: Like the sacred fence of the shrine on Furu Hill, where maidens wave their sleeves, I have loved you since long ago.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2415

Headnote: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Like the ancient sacred fence of the shrine on Furu Hill, the speaker has loved since long ago, and the poem sings of a love that has lasted through the years. The age of the fence around the sacred precinct is likened to the long duration of love, conveying the weight of an unchanging heart.
The headnote "Expressing Feelings through Things" names a category of poems that speak of love through natural scenery or familiar objects. With this poem the Hitomaro Collection's poems of this kind begin, opening with poems related to gods and sacred places. This one speaks through the sacred fence at Furu.
Poem 501 in Book Four contains a poem of almost the same form attributed to Kakinomoto no Hitomaro.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "otomera o": a pillow word attached to "sode furu," from the image of maidens waving their sleeves.
Second line, "sode furu yama no": "of Furu Hill." "Furu" (to wave) doubles as the place name Furu in present-day Tenri, Nara Prefecture, home of the Isonokami Shrine.
Third line, "mizukaki no": "of the sacred fence." The first three lines form a preface, and because the fence has stood from of old, it leads into "hisashiki" (long).
Fourth line, "hisashiki toki yu": "from long ago." "Yu" is a particle marking a starting point.
Fifth line, "omoi keri ware wa": "I have loved, I." Placing "ware wa" last by inversion asserts firmly that it is the speaker who has loved so long. The line is hypermetric.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Kōru koto nagusamekanete idete yukeba yama o kawa o mo shirazu ki ni keri
Next Poem: Chihayaburu kami no motaseru inochi o ba ta ga tame ni ka mo nagaku hori semu