Takekuma no matsu o mitsutsu ya nagusamen kimi ga chitose no kage ni naraite - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

武隈の松を見つつや慰めん
君が千年の影にならひて

Roma-ji: Takekuma no matsu o mitsutsu ya nagusamen kimi ga chitose no kage ni naraite
English Translation: Shall I find comfort
gazing on the pine
of Takekuma,
having grown used to the shade
of your thousand-year protection?
Meaning: Shall I console myself gazing at the pine of Takekuma, having grown so used to the shade of your thousand-year protection?
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 338

Headnote: "Composed when I was going down as Governor of Mutsu and the Sanjō Chancellor held a farewell for me"
Having grown accustomed to his lord's protection, like that of a thousand-year pine, the poet wonders whether in his province he will console himself by gazing at the pine of Takekuma in Mutsu. Celebrating his lord's long life and prosperity through the thousand-year pine, he expresses the loneliness of leaving that protection for a distant province. According to the headnote, it was composed when the poet was going down as Governor of Mutsu and the Sanjō Chancellor, Fujiwara no Yoritada, held a farewell for him.
Fujiwara no Tamenobu was, according to the headnote, an official who served as Governor of Mutsu, but little is known of his life.

First line, "takekuma no," is Takekuma, a famed place in Mutsu known for a pine that divides into two trunks from the root.
Second line, "matsu o mitsutsu ya," means "gazing at the pine," with "ya" a questioning particle. After the pine grove of Iki in 337, the preceding poem, another famed place of pines is sung of.
Third line, "nagusamen," means "shall I console myself," with "ya" resolved by the attributive "n." The poem pauses here, and by inversion the reason is given afterward.
Fourth line, "kimi ga chitose no," means "of your thousand years," overlaying Yoritada's long life with the pine that lives a thousand years.
Final line, "kage ni naraite," means "having grown used to your shade," with "kage" meaning both the shade of the pine and the lord's protection.
Author: Fujiwara no Tamenobu
Source: Shui Wakashu
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