Hatsuharu no hatsune no kyō no tamabahaki te ni toru kara ni yuraku tama no o

初春の初子の今日の玉箒
手に取るからに揺らく玉の緒

Roma-ji: Hatsuharu no hatsune no kyō no tamabahaki te ni toru kara ni yuraku tama no o
English Translation: On this day of spring's
first day of the rat, the broom
adorned with jewels,
as soon as it's in my hand,
how its jeweled strings sway and chime
Meaning: The jeweled broom given on this first Day of the Rat of the new spring: as soon as I take it in my hand, its jeweled strings sway and chime.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4493

Headnote: "On the third day of the first month of spring in year 2, chamberlains, pages, princes, and courtiers were summoned to attend beneath the fence of the eastern pavilion of the palace, where jeweled brooms were bestowed and a banquet held. The Inner Minister Fujiwara, receiving the imperial command, announced: 'Princes and lords, compose poems and Chinese verses as you are able and as you wish.' In response each set forth his feelings in poems and verses," with a note: "The verses and poems of the others have not been obtained."
The jeweled broom given on this first Day of the Rat: as soon as I take it, its jeweled strings sway and chime: a poem blessing the court ceremony. According to the headnote, on the third of the first month of Tenpyō Hōji 2 (758), courtiers were summoned to the palace, given jeweled brooms, and feasted, and the Inner Minister Fujiwara no Nakamaro, by imperial command, called for poems and Chinese verses. The left note says it is by Ōtomo no Yakamochi, Middle Controller of the Right, but that his Treasury duties kept him from presenting it. The jeweled broom was used in a rite of sweeping the silkworm house on the first Day of the Rat of the new year, and was adorned with jewels.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Middle Controller of the Right.

The first line, "hatsuharu no," means "of the new spring."
The second line, "hatsune no kyō no," "of today, the first Day of the Rat," names the day of the rite.
The third line, "tamabahaki," the jeweled broom, is the gift bestowed by the sovereign.
The fourth line, "te ni toru kara ni," means "as soon as I take it in hand."
The closing line, "yuraku tama no o," ends on a noun: the jeweled strings that sway and chime. It can also be read as blessing long life, laying the sense of "life" over tama no o.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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