Aratama no toshi no o nagaku kaku koiba makoto waga inochi mataku arame ya mo

あらたまの年の緒長くかく恋ひば
まこと我が命全くあらめやも

Roma-ji: Aratama no toshi no o nagaku kaku koiba makoto waga inochi mataku arame ya mo
English Translation: Through the long thread
of the rough-jewel years,
if I long like this,
truly, this life of mine,
could it stay whole and sound
Meaning: If I go on longing like this through the long thread of the years, could my life truly remain unharmed?
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2891

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
The poet laments that if this longing goes on for many years, life itself cannot stay safe, so dangerous is love's suffering. The length of the years is likened to a thread, "toshi no o," to express endless time.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.

Line one, "aratama no," is a pillow word for "toshi," year.
Line two, "toshi no o nagaku": "toshi no o" likens the continuing years to a thread, meaning "through long years." Poems 2935 and 3207 in this book open with the same two lines.
Line three, "kaku koiba," means "if I long like this."
Line four, "makoto waga inochi," means "truly my life," a hypermetric line of eight syllables.
Line five, "mataku arame ya mo": "mataku" means whole and unharmed, and "me ya mo" makes a rhetorical question.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Nubatama no yo o nagami kamo waga seko ga ime ni ime ni shi miekaeru ramu
Next Poem: Omoiyaru sube no tadoki mo ware wa nashi awazute maneku tsuki no henureba