Namitateru matsu no midori no eda wakazu oritsutsu chiyo o tare to ka wa mimu - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

並み立てる松の緑の枝分かず
折りつつ千代を誰とかは見む

Roma-ji: Namitateru matsu no midori no eda wakazu oritsutsu chiyo o tare to ka wa mimu
English Translation: Of the ranks of pines,
not choosing branch from branch
of their deep green,
I break them—with whom but you
would I see a thousand years
Meaning: Breaking off branches of the green pines standing side by side, choosing no one bough over another—with whom but you would I watch a thousand years go by?
Commentary: Book Twenty Congratulatory Poems 1384

Headnote: "At the garden hill of the Nishi-Shijō Prince's house, sent to the Fourth Princess."
The poet asks with whom, breaking the green branches of the ranked pines without distinction, he would see a thousand years. Sending pine branches, he uses the pine that stays unchanged for a thousand years to tell her that he means to share those years with no one but her.
According to the headnote, it was sent to the Fourth Princess from the garden hill of the Nishi-Shijō Prince's house. The Fourth Princess seems to be Princess Kinshi, a daughter of Emperor Daigo who became the poet's wife.
The poet, "the Minister of the Right," is Fujiwara no Morosuke. The second son of Fujiwara no Tadahira, he rose to Minister of the Right and was called Kujō-dono. His daughter Anshi became the empress of Emperor Murakami.

The first line, "Namitateru," means "standing in a row."
The second line, "matsu no midori no," means "of the green pines," ever green and held unchanging for a thousand years.
The third line, "eda wakazu," means "not choosing branch from branch."
The fourth line, "oritsutsu chiyo o," means "breaking them, a thousand years," laying the length of his vow over the pine's thousand years.
The last line, "tare to ka wa mimu," means "with whom would I see them? None but you," with the rhetorical binding particle "ka wa" closed by the attributive "mu."
Author: Fujiwara no Morosuke
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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