我が君は千代に八千代にさざれ石
巌となりて苔のむすまで
巌となりて苔のむすまで
- Roma-ji
-
Waga kimi wa chiyo ni yachiyo ni sazareishi
iwao to narite koke no musu made - English Translation
-
may my lord endure
for a thousand, eight thousand years—
until pebbles small
grow into mighty boulders
and moss comes thick upon them
- Meaning
- May you live for a thousand, for eight thousand years—until small pebbles grow into great rocks and moss comes to cover them.
- Commentary
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Book Seven Felicitations
This is a famous poem that later became the basis of the national anthem “Kimigayo.”
“My lord” broadly refers to you, a master, or a sovereign. “Pebbles” are small stones, which “become great rocks,” and “until moss grows upon them” expresses the passage of a very long time. The poem celebrates the long life of a cherished person.
In later collections such as the Kokinshū, it evolved into the form beginning “Kimigayo.” While “kimi” could refer to a beloved or a respected person, from the Meiji period onward it came to signify the Emperor.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
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Yuku toshi no oshiku mo aru kana masukagami
miru kage sae ni kurenu to omoeba - Next Poem
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Watatsuumi no hama no masago o kazoetsutsu
kimi ga chitose no arikazu ni semu