我見ても久しくなりぬ住の江の
岸の姫松いく世経ぬらむ
岸の姫松いく世経ぬらむ
- Roma-ji
-
Ware mite mo hisashiku narinu suminoe no kishi no himematsu iku yo henuramu
- English Translation
-
Even since I first
saw it, how long it has been!
At Suminoe
the little pine upon the shore—
how many ages has it known?
- Meaning
- It has been long even since I first saw it. How many ages must the little pine on the shore of Suminoe have lived through?
- Commentary
-
Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 905
Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Seeing the pine on the shore of Suminoe, the speaker reflects that much time has passed even since he first saw it, and wonders how many ages the pine has lived. The poem expresses wonder at the longevity of the pine, which outlives a human life. The author is unknown.
This poem also appears in Episode 117 of The Tales of Ise, as a poem from an imperial visit to Sumiyoshi.
First line "ware mite mo" means even since I have been seeing it, setting the measure of a human life.
Second line "hisashiku narinu" closes with the perfective nu, and the poem pauses here.
Third line "suminoe no" points to the inlet of Sumiyoshi in Settsu.
Fourth line "kishi no himematsu": himematsu means a small, lovely pine. The next poem, 906, also sings of the "little pine on the shore," so the two stand together.
Fifth line "iku yo henuramu" uses the present-conjecture ramu to imagine the pine's long years beyond a human life. A human span and the pine's ages treat the same theme on different scales.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kokin Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Chihayaburu uji no hashimori nare o shi zo aware to wa omou toshi no henureba
- Next Poem
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Sumiyoshi no kishi no himematsu hito naraba iku yo ka heshi to towamashi mono o