Waga yado no hotade furukara tsumi ōshi mi ni naru made ni kimi o shi matamu

我が宿の穂蓼古幹摘み生し
実になるまでに君をし待たむ

Roma-ji: Waga yado no hotade furukara tsumi ōshi mi ni naru made ni kimi o shi matamu
English Translation: From the old stalks
of the water pepper
in my garden plot
I'll sow seeds and till they fruit
I shall wait for you, my love
Meaning: From the old stalks of the flowering water pepper in my garden I will pluck the seeds and raise them, and until they bear fruit I will wait for you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2759

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
This is a woman's love poem resolving to wait for her lover even through the long time it takes to pluck seeds from the old water pepper stalks in her garden, raise them, and see them bear fruit. The fruiting of the water pepper is understood to overlay the fruition of love, and her readiness for a long wait is entrusted to a familiar garden plant.
It is a poem "Expressing Feelings through Things" that speaks through flowering water pepper. The last line of poem 2755 in this book, "koto o shi matamu," and this poem's last line, "kimi o shi matamu," share the same form of a woman resolving to wait. This poem's "tsumi ōshi" and the next poem's "tsumi ni yukamu" both sing of plucking plants.
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, "waga yado no": "of my house's garden," taking up a plant close at hand.
Second line, "hotade furukara": the old, withered stalks of water pepper that has come into ear, meaning the seeds left on stalks that bloomed in autumn.
Third line, "tsumi ōshi": "plucking and sowing and raising them." Growing the plant again from seed suggests a long passage of time.
Fourth line, "mi ni naru made ni": "until they bear fruit." The fruiting of the water pepper is understood to overlay the fruition of love.
Fifth line, "kimi o shi matamu": "I will wait for you." "Shi" is an emphatic particle and "mu" an auxiliary of intention, closing with the resolve to keep waiting.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Suga no ne no nemokoro imo ni kouru ni shi masuraogokoro omōenu kamo
Next Poem: Ashihiki no yamasawa egu o tsumi ni yukamu hi dani mo awase haha wa semu tomo