classic waka stream

いつの間も神さびけるか香具山の
桙杉の本に苔生すまでに
Roma-ji

Itsu no ma mo kamusabikeru ka Kaguyama no hokosugi no moto ni koke musu made ni

English Translation
When did it become
so hallowed with passing time?
On Mount Kagu,
at the foot of spear-straight cedars,
till the moss has overgrown.
Meaning
When did it grow so hallowed with age? On Mount Kagu, moss has grown thick at the roots of the spear-straight cedars.
Commentary
Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 259

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "A poem with tanka by Kamo no Kimi Taruhito on Mount Kagu" — "Two envoys"
This is the second envoy to the poem on Mount Kagu. The poet marvels at how Mount Kagu has somehow grown hallowed and ancient, with so much time gone by that moss grows at the roots of the cedars. Following the boats inhabited by waterbirds in the previous poem, the image of mossy cedars shows the ruin of the old capital and the long passage of years.
The poet, Kamo no Taruhito, was an official bearing the clan title Kamo no Kimi, but nothing more is known of him.

First line "When did it become" expresses surprise that time has passed unnoticed.
Second line "so hallowed with passing time": kamusabu means to grow godlike with age, keru is the attributive of the past keri, and ka is exclamatory. The sentence breaks here.
Third line "On Mount Kagu": one of the three mountains of Yamato, a sacred peak said in legend to have descended from heaven.
Fourth line "at the foot of spear-straight cedars": hokosugi are cedars standing straight as spears. The line has one syllable too many.
Fifth line "till the moss has overgrown" is inverted from the second line, giving the reason for the hallowed look afterward. Following "make their home upon the boats" in the preceding poem, it renders the passage of years in a concrete scene.
Author
Kamo no Taruhito
Source
Manyoshu
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