Isonokami Furu no yashiro no yūdasuki kakete nomi ya wa koimu to omoishi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

石上布留の社の木綿襷
かけてのみやは恋ひむと思ひし

Roma-ji: Isonokami Furu no yashiro no yūdasuki kakete nomi ya wa koimu to omoishi
English Translation: Like the cotton sash
worn at Isonokami's
shrine of Furu,
did I think I would only
hang my love upon my heart?
Meaning: Did I ever imagine, like the priest of Furu Shrine at Isonokami draping the sacred cotton sash, that I would only go on holding you in my heart? I never did.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 867

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says: did I ever think that, like the priest of Furu Shrine hanging the cotton cord across his shoulders, I would only hang my love upon my heart? I never imagined it. Through the garb of a sacred rite, it laments a love once thought sure to be fulfilled now about to end as mere longing.
Like 862 in this book, it begins with "Isonokami," and from here to 869 poems touching on gods and shrines continue.

First line, "Isonokami," is a pillow word modifying "Furu." It is the same as the first line of 862 in this book.
Second line, "Furu no yashiro no," means "of the shrine at Furu," where Isonokami Shrine stands in Yamato Province.
Third line, "yūdasuki," is a sash of bark-fiber cloth worn across the shoulders by priests in sacred rites; from the first line to here forms a preface leading to "kakete."
Fourth line, "kakete nomi ya wa," means "only holding you in my heart," with "kake" joining hanging the sash and holding in the heart. "Ya wa" is a binding particle expressing a rhetorical question.
Final line, "koimu to omoishi," means "did I think I would love so? I never did," concluding in "shi," the attributive of the past "ki," in answer to "ya wa."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Sugi tateru yado o zo hito wa tazunekeru kokoro no matsu wa kai nakarikeri
Next Poem: Ware ya uki hito ya tsuraki to chihayaburu kami chō kami ni toimiteshi kana