Ima wa ware matsu no hashira no sugi no io ni tozubeki mono o koke fukaki sode - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今は我松の柱の杉の庵に
閉づべきものを苔深き袖

Roma-ji: Ima wa ware matsu no hashira no sugi no io ni tozubeki mono o koke fukaki sode
English Translation: Now at last should I,
in a hut of cedar boards
and pillars of pine,
shut myself away for good—
sleeves grown deep with moss.
Meaning: Now I ought to shut myself away in a cedar hut with pillars of pine—I, whose sleeves are deep with moss.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems II 1665

Headnote: "On the spirit of a mountain dwelling, when I presented a hundred-poem sequence."
This is the second poem of the sequence on mountain dwellings and mountain paths. Now that she wears sleeves deep with moss, she ought to shut herself away in a cedar hut with pillars of pine. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic of a mountain dwelling when she presented a hundred-poem sequence.
The author, "Shikishi Naishinnō," was a daughter of Emperor Go-Shirakawa and served as Kamo Priestess. She later took holy orders. She studied poetry under Fujiwara no Shunzei.

The first line, "ima wa ware," means "now I." It pairs with "itsuka ware" in the first line of the preceding poem, contrasting one who longs to take vows with one who has already taken them.
The second line, "matsu no hashira no," means "with pillars of pine."
The third line, "sugi no io ni," means "in a hut roofed with cedar boards." It is hypermetric, with six syllables. Layering pine and cedar, it depicts the plain build of a mountain hut.
The fourth line, "tozubeki mono o," means "where I ought to shut myself away." "Mono o" expresses an adversative exclamation.
The last line, "koke fukaki sode," ends in a noun, showing through sleeves deep with moss that she has taken vows. The mossy sleeves Ietaka longed for in the preceding poem are here sung by one who already wears them.
Author: Princess Shokushi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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