Waga inochi o Nagato no shima no komatsubara ikuyo o hete ka kamusabiwataru

我が命を長門の島の小松原
幾代を経てか神さびわたる

Roma-ji: Waga inochi o Nagato no shima no komatsubara ikuyo o hete ka kamusabiwataru
English Translation: As I wish long life,
so the isle of Nagato
with its pine-clad plain;
through how many ages passed
has it grown so hallowed
Meaning: The plain of young pines on the isle of Nagato, whose name speaks of long life: through how many ages has it passed to grow so hallowed and venerable?
Commentary: Book Fifteen Poems of the Envoys to Silla 3621

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Five poems composed while anchored by the rocky shore of Nagato Island in Aki Province"
The poem praises the land, wondering through how many ages the plain of young pines on Nagato Island has passed to grow so hallowed. The opening "waga inochi o" leads into the "naga" (long) of "Nagato" through the wish that one's life be long, overlaying the long life of pines with his wish for his own long life. Placed last among the five poems composed at Nagato Island, it closes a sequence full of homesick laments with a poem in praise of the land.
According to the headnote, this is one of five poems composed while anchored by the rocky shore of Nagato Island in Aki Province, thought to be present-day Kurahashi Island in Kure, Hiroshima Prefecture. Of the five, only the first has its author named in a left note; the author of this poem is not named.

First line, "waga inochi o": from the wish that one's life be long, it serves as a preface leading into the "naga" of "Nagato." The line has six syllables, a hypermetric line.
Second line, "Nagato no shima no": Nagato Island in Aki Province, thought to be present-day Kurahashi Island.
Third line, "komatsubara": a plain grown with small pines; the evergreen pine was a token of long life.
Fourth line, "ikuyo o hete ka": "ka" is an interrogative binding particle resolved by the attributive "wataru": through how many ages.
Fifth line, "kamusabiwataru": "kamusabu" means to grow hallowed and venerable, and "wataru" to be so throughout; answering "ka" in the fourth line, it ends in the attributive form.
Source: Manyoshu
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