Kaerikeru hito kitareri to iishikaba hotohoto shiniki kimi ka to omoite

帰りける人来れりと言ひしかば
ほとほと死にき君かと思ひて

Roma-ji: Kaerikeru hito kitareri to iishikaba hotohoto shiniki kimi ka to omoite
English Translation: When they told me
that those who had come home
had now arrived,
I nearly died of joy,
thinking it was you
Meaning: When they told me that those who had been pardoned had arrived home, I nearly died, thinking it might be you.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3772

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
She sings that hearing that those pardoned had arrived home, she nearly died, thinking it might be him. A general amnesty was proclaimed in the twelfth year of Tenpyō and many exiles were pardoned, but records show that Yakamori was not among them. The moment of soaring hope and the disappointment that followed are folded into the violent words "hotohoto shiniki" (I nearly died).
The author, Sano no Otogami no Otome, was a lady-in-waiting of low rank known as a nyoju, serving in the palace storehouse office; she is also written Sano no Chigami no Otome.
A left note reads "the above eight poems are by the young woman"; the eight poems from 3767 to 3774 of this book were sent by the young woman to Yakamori. The latter half of this book contains sixty-three poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome. According to the book's table of contents, when Yakamori took as his wife the young woman, a lady-in-waiting of the palace storehouse office, he was exiled to Echizen Province by imperial decree. The place of exile is thought to be Ajimano in Echizen, near present-day Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture.

First line, "kaerikeru": "keru" is the attributive of the past "keri": who had returned, pardoned from exile.
Second line, "hito kitareri to": "ri" is perfective: that such a person had arrived.
Third line, "iishikaba": "shika" is the realis of the past "ki": since someone said so.
Fourth line, "hotohoto shiniki": "hotohoto" means very nearly, and "ki" is past: I very nearly died. The poem breaks after the fourth line.
Fifth line, "kimi ka to omoite": thinking it was you, giving by inversion the reason for the fourth line at the end.
Author: Sano no Otogami no Otome
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Miyahito no yasui mo nezute kyō kyō to matsuramu mono o mienu kimi kamo
Next Poem: Kimi ga muta yukamashi mono o onaji koto okurete oredo yoki koto mo nashi