Tokiwa naru matsu ni kakareru koke nareba toshi no o nagaki shirube to zo omou

English Translation

On the evergreen pine
where it hangs, the moss upon it—
since it is such moss,
of the long cord of the years
a guide it is, so I think.

Meaning

Because it is moss hanging from an evergreen pine, I take it as a guide to the long cord of the years.

Commentary

Book Seven Felicitation Poems 731

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This poem celebrates through moss hanging on a pine. Because it is moss hanging from an evergreen pine, the speaker takes it as a guide to the long years. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The name of the author is not known.
The scene is a celebratory landscape with no season specified, and the place is beneath a pine hung with moss.
The direct occasion is not recorded.

The first line, "tokiwa naru," means "evergreen and unchanging." Following "tokiwagi" in 720 in this book and "tokiwa kakiwa" in 726, words of the unchanging are heaped up.
The second line, "matsu ni kakareru," means "hanging on the pine," with "ru" expressing continuation.
The third line, "koke nareba," means "since it is moss." Moss that hangs from a pine after long years becomes a sign of long duration.
The fourth line, "toshi no o nagaki," means "of the long-continuing years." It shares its words with "toshi no o nagaku" in 729 in this book, repeating the image of years as a cord.
In the last line, "shirube to zo omou," the emphatic particle "zo" is concluded by the attributive form "omou" in kakari-musubi. Adding moss that has gathered years to the evergreen of the pine, the poem makes it a guide to the long years, showing long duration twice over.

Author

Unknown Poet

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

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