Tokoyomono kono tachibana no iyateri ni wago ōkimi wa ima mo miru goto

常世物この橘のいや照りに
わご大君は今も見るごと

Roma-ji: Tokoyomono kono tachibana no iyateri ni wago ōkimi wa ima mo miru goto
English Translation: From the Everworld,
like this tachibana fruit
ever more aglow,
so may our Sovereign shine on
just as we behold her now.
Meaning: Like this tachibana, fruit of the Everworld, shining ever brighter, may our Sovereign remain just as we see her now.
Commentary: Book Eighteen 4063

Headnote: "Two poems composed later in response to the tachibana poems."
The poet wishes that, just as the tachibana, fruit of the Everworld, shines ever brighter, his Sovereign may flourish forever as she is seen now. Responding after the fact to the tachibana poems from the Naniwa Palace brought by Sakimaro, especially the Retired Empress's poem 4058, he praises both the Sovereign and the house of Tachibana.
Ōtomo no Yakamochi was the son of Ōtomo no Tabito, and from 746 he served as governor of Etchū. He is believed to have played a central role in compiling the Man'yōshū, and this book has the character of a poetic diary of his years in Etchū.
The left note reads, "The two poems above were composed by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi."

First line, "tokoyomono": Tokoyo was the land of eternal life believed to lie beyond the sea, and the tachibana was said to have been brought from there. There is a legend that in the reign of Emperor Suinin, Tajimamori brought the tachibana from Tokoyo.
Second line, "kono tachibana no": it takes up "kono tachibana o," the last line of the imperial poem 4058.
Third line, "iyateri ni": "shining ever brighter," laying the Sovereign's prosperity over the gleam of the fruit.
Fourth line, "wago ōkimi wa": the Retired Empress. It also echoes "waga ōkimi kamo" in Princess Kawachi's 4059.
Last line, "ima mo miru goto": "just as we see her now," trailing off unfinished and leaving as an afterglow the wish that she remain so forever.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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