Ajisai no yae saku gotoku yatsuyo ni o imase waga seko mitsutsu shinowamu

あぢさゐの八重咲くごとく八つ代にを
いませ我が背子見つつ偲はむ

Roma-ji: Ajisai no yae saku gotoku yatsuyo ni o imase waga seko mitsutsu shinowamu
English Translation: As the hydrangea
blooms in many-layered clusters,
for eightfold ages
may you flourish, my good friend;
gazing at it, I'll think of you
Meaning: As the hydrangea blooms in layer upon layer, may you flourish through age after age, my friend; looking at these flowers, I will think of you.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4448

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On the eleventh day of the same month, the Minister of the Left, Lord Tachibana, held a banquet at the residence of the Grand Controller of the Right, Tajihi no Kunihito; three poems."
As the hydrangea blooms layer on layer, may you flourish through age after age; I will think of you as I gaze at it: a poem blessing the host, Kunihito. The left note says the Minister of the Left Tachibana no Moroe composed it on the hydrangea flowers. Having answered the host's blessing, Moroe now returns the wish for long prosperity by drawing on the hydrangea in the garden. Poems on hydrangea are very few in the Man'yōshū, so this is a rare example.
The author, Tachibana no Moroe, a descendant of Emperor Bidatsu, was formerly called Prince Katsuragi. At this time he was Minister of the Left.

The first line, "ajisai no," names the hydrangea in the garden, a flower of the banquet.
The second line, "yae saku gotoku," "as it blooms in many layers": the first two lines lead to yatsuyo in the third.
The third line, "yatsuyo ni o," "for many ages," repeats the "eight" of yae in yatsuyo.
The fourth line, "imase waga seko," uses imasu, honorific for "to be," calling on the host: please flourish. The poem pauses here.
The closing line, "mitsutsu shinowamu," "I will gaze and think of you," with the volitional mu.
Author: Tachibana no Moroe
Source: Manyoshu
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