Suminoe no matsu hodo hisa ni narinureba ashitazu no ne ni nakanu hi wa nashi - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

住の江のまつほど久になりぬれば
葦鶴の音になかぬ日はなし

Roma-ji: Suminoe no matsu hodo hisa ni narinureba ashitazu no ne ni nakanu hi wa nashi
English Translation: As the Suminoe
pines grow old, so long I've waited,
long my time has grown;
like the crane among the reeds
no day goes by I do not cry
Meaning: My waiting has grown as long as the age of the pines of Suminoe, and there is not a day I do not cry aloud like the cranes among the reeds.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 779

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
Having waited as long as the pines of Suminoe, the speaker cries every day like a crane among the reeds. Like the preceding poem it puns the pine of Suminoe with "waiting," and adds the cry of waterside cranes, painting the grief of waiting within the Suminoe landscape.
The author, "Kanemi no Ōkimi," is Prince Kanemi, a son of Prince Koretaka and grandson of Emperor Montoku. He served as Governor of Yamashiro, Head of the Department of Divinities, and Minister of the Imperial Household, rising to the senior fourth rank, lower grade.

The first line names Suminoe, the same as the third line of the preceding poem, famed for its pines.
In the second line matsu means both pine and waiting, so the wait has grown as long as the pine's age. Hisa ni echoes hisashiku mo in the preceding poem.
In the third line nureba gives the established condition: since it has become so.
The fourth line names the voice of cranes by the reeds, a feature of Suminoe. The line is hypermetric.
In the last line naka means both cranes crying and the speaker weeping. It closes firmly: there is no day I do not cry.
Author: Kanramu Ou
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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