Aoyagi no midori no ito o kurikaeshi ikura bakari no haru o henu ran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

青柳の緑の糸を繰り返し
いくらばかりの春を経ぬらん

Roma-ji: Aoyagi no midori no ito o kurikaeshi ikura bakari no haru o henu ran
English Translation: The green willow's threads,
the green of them wound and wound
again and again—
how many springs have they passed,
how many springs gone by?
Meaning: Like the green threads of the willow wound again and again, how many springs have passed by?
Commentary: Book Five Celebration Poems 278

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "For a folding screen at the celebration of Lord Seishin's fiftieth birthday"
Likening the slender branches of the green willow to green thread, the poet wonders how many springs have passed, as thread is wound again and again. Overlaying the years gone by onto the willow that buds anew each year, he celebrates long life. According to the headnote, like the preceding poem it was written for a folding screen at the celebration of Fujiwara no Saneyori's fiftieth birthday.
The author, written as Motosuke, is Kiyohara no Motosuke. A grandson of Kiyohara no Fukayabu, he 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, "aoyagi no," means "of the green willow" just come into leaf.
Second line, "midori no ito o," likens the willow's slender branches to green thread.
Third line, "kurikaeshi," means "again and again," arising from winding thread, "kuru" (to wind) being an associated word for thread.
Fourth line, "ikura bakari no," means "how very many."
Final line, "haru o henu ran," means "springs it must have passed," with "nu" perfective and "ran" conjectural. After the great rock of the preceding poem, this one celebrates accumulated years through the willow. It also accords with "a thousand springs" in 286 and 287 of this book.
Author: Kiyohara no Motosuke
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kimi ga yo o nani ni tatoen sazareishi no iwao to naran hodo mo akaneba
Next Poem: Waga yado ni sakeru sakura no hanazakari chitose miru tomo akaji to zo omou