Inishie no saori no obi o musubitare tareshi no hito mo kimi ni wa masaji

いにしへの狭織の帯を結び垂れ
誰れしの人も君にはまさじ

Roma-ji: Inishie no saori no obi o musubitare tareshi no hito mo kimi ni wa masaji
English Translation: Of the ancient days
the narrow-woven sash I tie
and let hang down: who,
whoever it might be,
could ever surpass you, my lord
Meaning: Like the old-style narrow-woven sash I tie and let hang down, whoever it might 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"
This poem is the variant recorded in the left note to poem 2628 immediately before it, introduced with the words "a poem in one book says." From a preface about tying and letting hang an old-style narrow-woven sash, it calls up "tareshi no hito mo" (whoever it might be) and declares that no one surpasses the beloved, a statement of single-hearted devotion.
It differs from the main poem in its second line, "saori no obi o" instead of "shitsuhata obi o," and its fourth line, "tareshi no hito mo" instead of "tare to iu hito mo." Saori is cloth woven in a narrow width, and like the main poem it names a fabric fit for a sash. The fourth line uses the emphatic particle "shi" for a tighter phrasing. As in the main poem, the first three lines form a preface leading to "tare" through the sound of "tare."
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," as in the main poem, modifying the sash that follows.
Second line, "saori no obi o": "a narrow-woven sash," saori being cloth woven narrow, said by some to be a kind of shitsuhata; it corresponds to "shitsuhata obi o" in the main poem.
Third line, "musubitare": "tied and hanging down." The preface runs to here, and the sound "tare" leads into "tare" (who) in the next line.
Fourth line, "tareshi no hito mo": "whoever it might be." "Shi" is an emphatic particle; this corresponds to "tare to iu hito mo" in the main poem and makes a tighter line without extra syllables.
Fifth line, "kimi ni wa masaji": "none will surpass you," as in the main poem, the negative conjectural auxiliary "ji" declaring firmly that no one can equal the beloved.
Source: Manyoshu
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