Ima wa tote tsumagi korubeki yado no matsu chiyo o ba kimi to nao inoru kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今はとて爪木こるべき宿の松
千代をば君と猶祈るかな

Roma-ji: Ima wa tote tsumagi korubeki yado no matsu chiyo o ba kimi to nao inoru kana
English Translation: Now that all is done,
though it's fit to cut for fuel,
the pine by my hut—
its thousand years for my lord
still I pray it may endure.
Meaning: Now that I have left the world, the pine by my hut is only fit to be cut for firewood—yet I still pray that its thousand years may be my lord's.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1637

Headnote: "On the topic 'Pine at a Mountain Dwelling.'"
This is the third poem of the sequence on the sovereign's reign by way of the mountains. Though the pine by his mountain hut is now only fit to be cut for firewood, the poet still prays that its thousand years may be his lord's. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Pine at a Mountain Dwelling."
The author, "Kōtaigōgū no Daibu Shunzei," was a son of Fujiwara no Toshitada and the father of Teika. He compiled the Senzaishū. He took holy orders and was named Shakua.

The first line, "ima wa tote," means "now that it has come to this," showing that he has taken vows and left the world.
The second line, "tsumagi korubeki," means "fit to be cut for firewood." Like "tsumagi orikoshi" in 1634 in this book, it sings of firewood in mountain life.
The third line, "yado no matsu," is the pine in the garden of the mountain dwelling. The poem breaks at this noun after the third line.
The fourth line, "chiyo o ba kimi to," means "its thousand years as my lord's." The long life of his lord is laid upon the pine, said to live a thousand years.
The last line, "nao inoru kana," means "still I pray." "Nao" strengthens the heart that prays for the lord's thousand years even after leaving the world. Like "nao kimi ga yo o" of the preceding poem, "nao" carries on the thought of the lord.
Author: Fujiwara no Shunzei
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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