Tsuki wa hi wa kawarainu tomo hisa ni furu mimoro no yama no totsumiyadokoro

月は日は変らひぬとも久に経る
三諸の山の離宮ところ

Roma-ji: Tsuki wa hi wa kawarainu tomo hisa ni furu mimoro no yama no totsumiyadokoro
English Translation: Though the moons and suns
may pass and alter as they go,
enduring long
on Mimoro’s sacred mountain
stands the site of the detached palace
Meaning: Though months and days keep changing, the site of the detached palace on Mount Mimoro endures through the long ages.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Miscellaneous Poems 3231

Headnote: "Envoy"
This is the envoy to the chōka (3230). Taking up the chōka, which describes an imperial journey from Nara toward Yoshino—serving at the morning palace by the sacred hill before entering Yoshino—it praises the detached palace of Mount Mimoro, unchanged though time moves on. Where the chōka longs for the past (“the old days come to mind”), the envoy celebrates permanence. The left note says that in a certain text the poem ends “the detached palace of the old capital,” a version that dwells still more on the former capital of Asuka.
The poet is unknown. Book Thirteen is built mainly of anonymous chōka and their envoys, and many of its poems preserve the air of old songs and ritual verse.

The first line, “tsuki wa hi wa” (months and days), sets the two side by side to express the flow of time.
In the second line, “kawarau” adds the continuative “fu” to “kawaru” (to change), meaning to keep changing; “nu” marks completion and “tomo” a concessive supposition: “even if all has changed.”
The third line, “hisa ni furu,” means to last through long ages, in contrast with the change in the second line.
The fourth line, “Mimoro no yama no,” is the mountain where a god dwells, here thought to mean the sacred hill of Asuka.
The closing line, “totsumiyadokoro,” means the place of the detached palace; ending on a noun, it praises the unchanging holy ground. A certain text reads “the detached palace of the old capital.”
Source: Manyoshu
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