for ten thousand years
in the pine I have blessed you—
my lord, it is so
for beneath your thousand years’ shade
I would dwell and live in peace

Meaning

For ten thousand years I have entrusted your blessing to the pine; for I would dwell beneath the shade of your thousand years and live in peace.

Commentary

Book Seven Felicitations

A poem composed on behalf of his daughter at the fortieth-year celebration of Yoshimine no Tsuneya.

The auxiliary “tsuru” in “iwai-tsuru” indicates completion, but also evokes the crane, a symbol of longevity. The pine and crane, both auspicious motifs in traditional painting, express wishes for prosperity and long life. The poem also conveys a hope that the daughter, too, may live peacefully for a long time under her father’s enduring protection.

Author

Sosei Hoshi

Source

Kokin Wakashu

Other

lying down I pray rising I count the years on— ten thousand ages the gods alone must surely know all for the sake of my lord
crane and tortoise too know not what lies beyond a thousand years— so to my heart that cannot ever be content I yield, and let it reach the end

for ten thousand years in the pine I have blessed you— my lord, it is so for beneath your thousand years’ shade I would dwell and live in peace

for ten thousand years
in the pine I have blessed you—
my lord, it is so
for beneath your thousand years’ shade
I would dwell and live in peace