Ametsuchi no yoriai no kiwami tama no o no taeji to omou imo ga atari mitsu

天地の寄り合ひの極み玉の緒の
絶えじと思ふ妹があたり見つ

Roma-ji: Ametsuchi no yoriai no kiwami tama no o no taeji to omou imo ga atari mitsu
English Translation: Till heaven and earth
draw together at the end,
like a cord of jewels
never, I think, to be broken:
I have seen where my love dwells
Meaning: I have seen the place where my beloved lives, she with whom my bond, like a cord of jewels, will never break until heaven and earth meet at the end of all things.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2787

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
The speaker has at last caught sight of the place where his beloved lives, she with whom he believes the bond will never break, not until heaven and earth draw together at the end. The joy of glimpsing from afar, perhaps on a journey, the place where his wife dwells, and the reaffirming of an eternal pledge, are sung together in an expression as vast as heaven and earth.
With this poem begins a run of poems that weave in "tama no o," the cord of jewels, continuing to poem 2793 and singing of love that never breaks or of hearts thrown into disorder through the image of a cord threading jewels. Here the boundless measure of "ametsuchi no yoriai no kiwami" is joined to the slender cord of jewels in a vow of a bond that lasts forever.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "ametsuchi no": "of heaven and earth." Calling up the greatest of all things, it expresses eternity together with "yoriai no kiwami" that follows.
Second line, "yoriai no kiwami": "to the end where they meet," meaning for as long as heaven and earth endure, that is, forever. "Kiwami" means the end or limit.
Third line, "tama no o no": a pillow word attached to "tae" (break). From a cord threading jewels that may snap, it leads into the idea of breaking off.
Fourth line, "taeji to omou": "I think it will never break." "Ji" is the auxiliary of negative conjecture or negative will, expressing a firm belief that the bond will not end.
Fifth line, "imo ga atari mitsu": "I have seen where my love dwells." The perfective "tsu" closes the poem decisively, carrying the joy of finally having seen it.
Source: Manyoshu
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