Sumiyoshi no kishi no himematsu hito naraba iku yo ka heshi to towamashi mono o - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

住吉の岸の姫松人ならば
いく世か経しと問はましものを

Roma-ji: Sumiyoshi no kishi no himematsu hito naraba iku yo ka heshi to towamashi mono o
English Translation: The little pine
upon Sumiyoshi's shore—
were it a person,
"How many ages have you seen?"
I would ask, if only I could.
Meaning: If the little pine on the shore of Sumiyoshi were a person, I would ask it how many ages it has lived through.
Commentary: Book Seventeen Miscellaneous Poems I 906

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
If the pine on the shore of Sumiyoshi were a person, the speaker would ask how many ages it has seen. Where the preceding poem guessed at the pine's age, this one wishes to question the pine directly, showing affection for it and wonder at its longevity. The author is unknown.

First line "sumiyoshi no" names the same place as "suminoe no" in the preceding poem, 905.
Second line "kishi no himematsu" is the same phrase as the fourth line of the preceding poem, so the two form a pair.
Third line "hito naraba" supposes, "if it were a person," personifying the pine.
Fourth line "iku yo ka heshi to" uses shi, the attributive of the past ki, in the form of a question. It turns the conjecture of the preceding poem's last line, "iku yo henuramu," into a question.
Fifth line "towamashi mono o" joins the counterfactual mashi and the adversative mono o, showing the wish to ask that cannot be fulfilled.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Ware mite mo hisashiku narinu suminoe no kishi no himematsu iku yo henuramu
Next Poem: Azusayumi isobe no komatsu ta ga yo ni ka yorozuyo kanete tane o makikemu