Shiranami no hamamatsu ga e no tamukegusa ikuyo made ni ka toshi no henuran - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

白波の浜松が枝の手向けぐさ
幾代までにか年の経ぬらん

Roma-ji: Shiranami no hamamatsu ga e no tamukegusa ikuyo made ni ka toshi no henuran
English Translation: White-crested waves break—
on the pine boughs by the beach,
offerings tied fast:
through how many reigns by now
have the years gone passing by?
Meaning: The offerings tied to the branches of the beach pines where white waves break—through how many ages, how many years, have they endured?
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1588

Headnote: "In the ninth month of Shuchō 5, on the imperial excursion to Kii Province."
This is the first poem of a sequence of old poems on journeys, and the opening poem of Book Seventeen. The poet wonders how many years have passed over the offerings tied to the branches of the beach pines where white waves break. According to the headnote, it was composed while accompanying an imperial excursion to Kii Province.
The author, Prince Kawashima, was a son of Emperor Tenji. In the reign of Emperor Tenmu he took part in compiling the Imperial Chronicles and other old records.
Shuchō 5 corresponds to the fourth year of Empress Jitō, and the Nihon Shoki records that she made an excursion to Kii Province in the ninth month of that year.
The poem appears in Book One of the Man'yōshū as the work of Prince Kawashima, with a note giving a variant attribution to Yamanoue no Okura.

The first line, "shiranami no," means "where white waves break," setting the scene first at the seashore. The book of Miscellaneous Poems II thus opens with a seaside scene.
The second line, "hamamatsu ga e no," means "on the branches of the beach pines." The particles "ga" and "no" link the phrase onward to "tamukegusa."
The third line, "tamukegusa," refers to offerings made to the gods to pray for a safe journey; here, the strips of cloth or paper tied to the pine branch.
In the fourth line, "ikuyo made ni ka," the particle "ka" poses a question, asking through how many ages the offerings have endured.
The last line, "toshi no henuran," closes the kakari-musubi of "ka" with "ran," the attributive form of the auxiliary of present conjecture. Together with the perfective "nu," it gauges how old the offerings on the pine must be. The next poem, 1589, is also from the Man'yōshū, so two old poems stand at the head of the book.
Author: Prince Kawashima
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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