Inishie no shitsuhata obi o musubitare tare to iu hito mo kimi ni wa masaji

いにしへの倭文機帯を結び垂れ
誰れといふ人も君にはまさじ

Roma-ji: Inishie no shitsuhata obi o musubitare tare to iu hito mo kimi ni wa masaji
English Translation: Of the ancient days
the shitsuhata sash I tie
and let hang down: who,
whatever person they may be,
could ever surpass you, my lord
Meaning: Like the old-style sash of shitsuhata cloth I tie and let hang down, whoever it may be, no one could ever surpass you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2628

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
From a preface about tying and letting hang an old-style sash of shitsuhata cloth, the poem calls up "tare to iu hito mo" (whoever it may be) and declares that no one surpasses the beloved, a statement of single-hearted devotion. Speaking through a sash, something worn close to the body, it praises the beloved as beyond compare.
The first three lines form a preface, the sound of "tare" (hanging down) in "musubitare" leading into the homophonous "tare" (who). By invoking a sash of shitsuhata, a cloth woven in Japan since ancient times, it suggests a constancy unchanged since of old and lends firmness to the speaker's feeling. Like the preceding poem, it is a love poem tied to clothing.
The left note records a variant introduced as "a poem in one book says," with the second line reading "saori no obi o" and the fourth line "tareshi no hito mo."
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "inishie no": "of olden times," in the sense of handed down from of old, modifying the sash that follows.
Second line, "shitsuhata obi o": "a sash of shitsuhata," a cloth native to Japan from ancient times, woven with stripes or irregular patterns.
Third line, "musubitare": "tied and hanging down." The preface runs from the first line to here, and the sound "tare" leads into "tare" (who) in the next line.
Fourth line, "tare to iu hito mo": "whoever the person may be," naming people at large in anticipation of the negation to come. The line is hypermetric, with eight syllables.
Fifth line, "kimi ni wa masaji": "none will surpass you." "Masaji" is the verb "masaru" with the negative conjectural auxiliary "ji," closing the poem with the firm statement that no one can equal the beloved.
Source: Manyoshu
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