Waga seko shi kaku shi kikosaba ametsuchi no kami o koinomi nagaku to zo omou

我が背子しかくし聞こさば天地の
神を祈ひ祷み長くとぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Waga seko shi kaku shi kikosaba ametsuchi no kami o koinomi nagaku to zo omou
English Translation: If you, my good friend,
speak to me in such a way,
to heaven's and earth's
gods I shall pray and plead hard
and so mean to live long years
Meaning: If you speak to me like that, my friend, then I will pray to the gods of heaven and earth and resolve to live a long life.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4499

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "In the second month, a banquet at the residence of Nakatomi no Kiyomaro, Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial; fifteen poems."
If you say so, my friend, I will pray to the gods of heaven and earth and mean to live long: as host, Kiyomaro answers Yakamochi's blessing. The left note attributes it to the host, Nakatomi no Kiyomaro. Where Yakamochi wished him to stay unchanged, he responds that he will pray to the gods for long life, and the two confirm their affection.
The author, Nakatomi no Kiyomaro, a son of Nakatomi no Omimaro, was at this time Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial.

The first line, "waga seko shi," addresses a close friend, here Yakamochi, with the intensifier shi.
The second line, "kaku shi kikosaba," uses kikosu, honorific for "to say": if you speak so.
The third line, "ametsuchi no," joins the gods of heaven and earth.
The fourth line, "kami o koinomi," means "praying earnestly to the gods."
The closing line, "nagaku to zo omou," resolved by zo with the attributive omou: I mean to live long, answering "may you remain always" in the preceding poem.
Author: Nakatomi no Kiyomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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