Ōtsuchi wa tori tsukusu tomo yo no naka no tsukushienu mono wa koi ni shi arikeri

大地は取り尽すとも世の中の
尽しえぬものは恋にしありけり

Roma-ji: Ōtsuchi wa tori tsukusu tomo yo no naka no tsukushienu mono wa koi ni shi arikeri
English Translation: Though the great earth
might be taken till none remains,
in this world of ours
the one thing that cannot be spent,
I have found, is love itself
Meaning: Though the great earth itself might be taken until nothing is left, the one thing in this world that can never be exhausted, I now know, is love.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2442

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Even if the vast earth could be taken up until none remained, the one thing in this world that never runs out is love: the poem arrives at this sense of love's boundlessness. Invoking the earth, a thing of immeasurable size, it uses bold exaggeration to express a love more inexhaustible still.
As a poem that speaks through things, it takes up the great earth. From the seas, rivers, and waves of the preceding poems it widens to the largest measure of all, and the next poem, 2443, tells of a love that pierces the roots of rocks, so that poems on earth and stone follow.
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, "otsuchi wa": "the great earth." The particle "wa" sets it apart as the thing to be compared with an inexhaustible love.
Second line, "tori tsukusu tomo": "though it be taken till none remains." "Tomo" expresses a concessive supposition, deliberately positing the all but impossible.
Third line, "yo no naka no": "in this world," taking in the whole of human life.
Fourth line, "tsukushienu mono wa": "the thing that cannot be exhausted." Repeating the word tsukusu from the second line, it sets the earth against love.
Fifth line, "koi ni shi arikeri": "is love, I find." Strengthened by the particle "shi," it closes with the auxiliary "keri," expressing the wonder of fresh realization.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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