Shiratama o makite zo moteru ima yori wa waga tama ni semu shireru toki dani

白玉を巻きてぞ持てる今よりは
我が玉にせむ知れる時だに

Roma-ji: Shiratama o makite zo moteru ima yori wa waga tama ni semu shireru toki dani
English Translation: These white pearls I hold
wound about my wrist, and now
from this moment on,
I will make them my own jewels,
at least while I know them mine
Meaning: I hold these white pearls wound about my hand. From now on I will make them my own jewels, at least for the time that I know them to be mine.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2446

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
The speaker holds white pearls wound about the hand and resolves to cherish them from now on as his own. The pearls are a figure for a beloved woman, and the joy of tenderly holding a lover at last won is entrusted to the image of wearing jewels.
From the preceding poem, 2445, a run of poems on white jewels continues, and the next poem, 2447, also begins with "white jewels." This poem and the next both picture pearls wound about the hand; where this poem tells of the joy of possession, the next sings of a constant heart resolved never to forget since winding them on. There are various views on how to read the last line, "shireru toki dani."
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, "shiratama o": "white jewels," that is, pearls, here a figure for the beloved woman.
Second line, "makite zo moteru": "I hold them wound about my hand." The particle "zo" is answered by "ru," the attributive of the continuative auxiliary "ri," and the poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "ima yori wa": "from now on," taking the present moment of possession as a threshold for what is to come.
Fourth line, "waga tama ni semu": "I will make them my jewels." The auxiliary "mu" expresses will, showing the wish to cherish the beloved as one's own.
Fifth line, "shireru toki dani": "at least while I know." The particle "dani" marks a minimal limit, and the line is understood as "at least while I know them to be mine."
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Ōmi no umi shizuku shiratama shirazu shite koi seshi yori wa ima koso masare
Next Poem: Shiratama o te ni makishi yori wasureji to omoikeraku wa nani ka owaramu