Yachikusa no hana wa utsurou tokiwa naru matsu no saeda o ware wa musubana

八千種の花は移ろふ常盤なる
松のさ枝を我れは結ばな

Roma-ji: Yachikusa no hana wa utsurou tokiwa naru matsu no saeda o ware wa musubana
English Translation: The countless flowers
of a thousand kinds will fade;
the evergreen pine,
its fine branch, I'll take and tie,
praying for your lasting years
Meaning: Flowers of every kind fade and fall; I will tie a branch of the evergreen pine and pray for your long life.
Commentary: Book Twenty Miscellaneous Poems 4501

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "In the second month, a banquet at the residence of Nakatomi no Kiyomaro, Senior Assistant Minister of Ceremonial; fifteen poems."
Flowers of every kind fade; I will tie a branch of the evergreen pine: the poem prays for the host's long life with the unchanging pine. The left note attributes it to Ōtomo no Yakamochi, Middle Controller of the Right. Tying pine branches was a custom of praying for safety and long life, and by contrasting fading flowers with the unchanging pine, it blesses the host's enduring life. It shares the idea of Yakamochi's earlier poem saying blooming flowers fade but the roots of mountain sedge endure.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, son of Ōtomo no Tabito, was at this time Middle Controller of the Right.

The first line, "yachikusa no," "of countless kinds," refers to many flowers.
The second line, "hana wa utsurou," "the flowers fade," ends the first sentence.
The third line, "tokiwa naru," "ever unchanging," pairs with "fade" in the second line.
The fourth line, "matsu no saeda o," with the prefix sa, "a branch of pine," takes up "the pine by the shore" three poems before.
The closing line, "ware wa musubana," with na of intention: I will tie it and pray for long life.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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