Kimi ga yo wa ama no hagoromo mare ni kite nazu tomo tsukinu iwao naranan - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君が世は天の羽衣まれにきて
撫づとも尽きぬ巌ならなん

Roma-ji: Kimi ga yo wa ama no hagoromo mare ni kite nazu tomo tsukinu iwao naranan
English Translation: May your life, my lord,
be a rock that's never worn
though heaven's maidens
in their robes of feathers come
rarely down to brush its face.
Meaning: May your life be like a great rock that never wears away, though heavenly beings come down but rarely, wearing their feathered robes, to brush it.
Commentary: Book Five Celebration Poems 299

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem wishes that the honoree's life may go on without end, like a great rock that does not wear away even when heavenly beings come down rarely to brush it with their feathered robes. Using an image of time almost beyond imagining, it celebrates boundless long life.
Buddhist scriptures teach a parable in which a heavenly being descends only rarely to brush a great rock with a feathered robe, the time until the rock is worn away being one kalpa, and this poem draws on that parable.

First line, "kimi ga yo wa," means "your life." Like the first line of 277 in this book, "kimi ga yo o," it likens the honoree's life to a great rock.
Second line, "ama no hagoromo," is the feathered robe worn by heavenly beings to fly through the sky.
Third line, "mare ni kite," plays on "kite" as "coming" and as "wearing" the feathered robe.
Fourth line, "nazu tomo tsukinu," means "that is not worn away though brushed," with "tomo" expressing a concessive supposition.
Final line, "iwao naranan," means "may it be a great rock," with "nan" a particle expressing a wish directed at another. The next poem, 300, uses the same parable and closes the book with a poem of the great rock.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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