長らへて猶君が代をまつ山の
待つとせし間に年ぞ経にける
待つとせし間に年ぞ経にける
- Roma-ji
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Nagaraete nao kimi ga yo o matsuyama no matsu to seshi ma ni toshi zo henikeru
- English Translation
-
Living on so long,
still I wait for my lord's reign,
like the Pine Mountain—
while I thought that I would wait,
the years have passed me by.
- Meaning
- Living on, I still wait for my lord's reign, like the pines of Matsuyama—and while I meant to wait, the years have gone by.
- Commentary
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Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1636
Headnote: "When I presented a set of a hundred poems."
This is the second poem of the sequence on the sovereign's reign by way of the mountains. Living on and still waiting for the lord's reign, the poet finds that the years have passed while she waited. According to the headnote, it was composed when she presented a set of a hundred poems.
The author, "Nijō-in no Sanuki," was a daughter of Minamoto no Yorimasa and served Emperor Nijō. She later also served Gishūmon-in, empress of Emperor Go-Toba.
The first line, "nagaraete," means "living on."
The second line, "nao kimi ga yo o," means "still, my lord's reign." Taking up the "age where the Way runs" of the preceding poem, it looks up to the reign of the sovereign.
The third line, "matsuyama no," pivots on "matsu," both "to wait" and the "pine" of Matsuyama, "Pine Mountain."
The fourth line, "matsu to seshi ma ni," means "while I meant to wait." Repeating "matsu" from the third line, it stresses how long the waiting has lasted.
The last line, "toshi zo henikeru," closes the kakari-musubi of "zo" with "keru," the attributive form of the past "keri." Lamenting a self grown old while waiting, it still sings of a heart looking up to the reign.
- Author
- Nijoin no Sanuki
- Source
- Shin Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Okuyama no odoro ga shita mo fumiwakete michi aru yo zo to hito ni shirasen
- Next Poem
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Ima wa tote tsumagi korubeki yado no matsu chiyo o ba kimi to nao inoru kana