Nanasoji ni Mitsu no hamamatsu oinuredo chiyo no nokori wa nao zo harukeki

English Translation

At seventy full,
like the beach pine of Mitsu,
you have grown old, yet
what remains to a thousand years
stretches farther still ahead.

Meaning

Full seventy years, you have grown old like the beach pine of Mitsu, yet what remains before a thousand years is reached still stretches far ahead.

Commentary

Book Seven Felicitation Poems 744

Headnote: "Sent when Narinaka, Priest of the Hie Shrine, celebrated his seventieth year."
This is a poem celebrating longevity. Having reached seventy, the recipient has grown old like the beach pine of Mitsu, yet what remains before a thousand years is still far off. According to the headnote, it was sent when Narinaka, a priest of the Hie Shrine, celebrated his seventieth year.
No author's name is given; the poem follows the preceding one as a poem by Fujiwara no Kiyosuke.
The scene is the celebration of Narinaka's seventieth year, and the place is the area around Sakamoto in Ōmi Province, where the beach of Mitsu lies.
The direct occasion is the seventieth-year celebration of Hafuribe no Narinaka, a priest of the Hie Shrine.
The Hie Shrine stands at Sakamoto in Ōmi Province, at the foot of Mount Hiei. The beach of Mitsu is a poetic place in Ōmi Province, the shore of Lake Biwa near Sakamoto. A seventieth-year celebration honors the longevity of one who has reached seventy.

The first line, "nanasoji ni," means "at seventy years." It gives Narinaka's age.
In the second line, "Mitsu no hamamatsu," "mitsu" is a pivot word meaning both reaching the full age of seventy and the place name Mitsu. Reading in the pines of the beach of Mitsu near the Hie Shrine, it makes them a scene connected with Narinaka.
The third line, "oinuredo," means "though grown old," with "do" expressing concession. The age of the beach pine is laid over Narinaka's age.
The fourth line, "chiyo no nokori wa," means "what remains until a thousand years." Seventy years are seen as a point along the way to a thousand.
In the last line, "nao zo harukeki," the emphatic particle "zo" is concluded by the attributive form "harukeki" in kakari-musubi. Acknowledging seventy as old age, the poem notes that measured against a thousand years much still remains, celebrating by measuring seventy years anew on the scale of a millennium.

Author

Fujiwara no Kiyosuke

Source

Shin Kokin Wakashu

Other