Asa madaki kiryū no oka ni tatsu kiji wa chiyo no hitsugi no hajime narikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

朝まだききりふの岡にたつ雉は
千代のひつぎの始めなりけり

Roma-ji: Asa madaki kiryū no oka ni tatsu kiji wa chiyo no hitsugi no hajime narikeri
English Translation: In the early dawn
upon Kiryū's misty hill
the pheasant rises—
for a thousand ages, it marks
the start of the heir's long line.
Meaning: The pheasant rising on the hill of Kiryū, where mist rises before dawn, marks the beginning of days that will go on for a thousand ages for the heir to the throne.
Commentary: Book Five Celebration Poems 266

Headnote: "On the seventh night after the birth at the lying-in chamber of the posthumously honored Empress, Prince Munehira, Minister of War, had a pheasant figure made and attached a poem to it without saying from whom it came"
Drawing on the scene of a pheasant rising on the hill of Kiryū in the mist before dawn, the poem celebrates the beginning of an imperial line that will last a thousand ages. According to the headnote, for the celebration of the seventh night after a birth at the lying-in chamber of the posthumously honored Empress, Prince Munehira, Minister of War, sent a figure of a pheasant and attached this poem without revealing the sender. Through the pheasant figure the poem blesses the newborn as an heir who will succeed to the throne, and the poet appears to have composed it on the prince's behalf. As to who the posthumously honored Empress was, one view holds that she was Fujiwara no Kaishi, consort of Emperor Reizei and mother of Emperor Kazan.
Kiyohara no Motosuke was a grandson of Kiyohara no Fukayabu and took part in compiling the Gosenshū and in reading the Man'yōshū as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber. He was the father of Sei Shōnagon and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "asa madaki," means "in the early morning before dawn," leading to "kiri" (mist) in the second line.
Second line, "kiryū no oka ni," plays on the place name Kiryū and "kiri," the morning mist.
Third line, "tatsu kiji wa," lays on "tatsu" both the pheasant rising and the mist rising.
Fourth line, "chiyo no hitsugi no," plays on "hitsugi" as succession to the throne and as days following one upon another, overlaying the celebration of the seventh night with the birth of an heir to the throne.
Final line, "hajime narikeri," means "it was the beginning," with "keri" expressing the exclamation of realization. Like "the beginning of ten thousand ages" in 263 at the head of this book and "the beginning of a thousand ages" in 289, it celebrates the start of a long reign.
Author: Kiyohara no Motosuke
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Gamōno no tamanoo yama ni sumu tsuru no chitose wa kimi ga miyo no kazu nari
Next Poem: Futaba yori tanomoshiki kana kasugayama kodakaki matsu no tane zo to omoeba