classic waka stream

万代に年は来経とも梅の花
絶ゆることなく咲きわたるべし
Roma-ji

Yorozuyo ni toshi wa kifu tomo ume no hana tayuru koto naku sakiwataru beshi

English Translation
For ten thousand ages
though the years may come and go,
the plum blossoms
never once will fail, but bloom
on and on through all of time
Meaning
Though years come and go for ten thousand ages, the plum blossoms will bloom on forever without fail.
Commentary
Book Five Miscellaneous Poems 830

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirty-two poems on plum blossoms, with preface"
The poet declares that however many years pass, the plum blossoms will go on blooming without end. By blessing the plum's permanence, he celebrates the prosperity of the host's house and the hope that this gathering will continue forever.
This is one of the thirty-two poems of the Plum Blossom Banquet, held on the thirteenth day of the first month of Tenpyō 2, when officials of Dazaifu and provincial governors of Kyushu gathered at the residence of the Governor-General Ōtomo no Tabito and composed poems on the plum trees in his garden. The Chinese preface describes how, in the auspicious first month of early spring, the air was fine and the breeze gentle, the plums opened white like face powder before a mirror, and the orchids gave off a scent like a perfume sachet; it is also famous as the source of the era name Reiwa. The preface closes by proposing that, just as Chinese poetry has its pieces on falling plum blossoms, the company should compose short poems on the garden plums. The poem is signed "Vice-Governor of Chikuzen Sa-shi Kobito"; the vice-governor was a province's second-ranking official.
The poet, Saeki no Kobito, was an official of the Saeki clan serving as Vice-Governor of Chikuzen, deputy to its governor, Yamanoue no Okura.

First line, "yorozuyo ni": "for ten thousand ages," setting a vast measure of time.
Second line, "toshi wa kifu tomo": "kifu" means years coming and passing, and "tomo" is concessive.
Third line, "ume no hana": set as what endures unchanged against the long flow of time.
Fourth line, "tayuru koto naku": "without ever ceasing."
Fifth line, "sakiwataru beshi": "wataru" means to go on doing, and "beshi" is confident conjecture, blessing the plum's endurance. Where most poems speak of a single day's feast, this one praises the plum on the scale of ten thousand ages.
Author
Saeki no Kobito
Source
Manyoshu
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