Waga koto wa e mo iwashiro no musubimatsu chitose o futomo tare ka toku beki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我が事はえもいはしろの結び松
千歳を経とも誰か解くべき

Roma-ji: Waga koto wa e mo iwashiro no musubimatsu chitose o futomo tare ka toku beki
English Translation: This riddle of mine
can never be put in words,
like Iwashiro's knotted pine;
though a thousand years go by,
who could ever untie it?
Meaning: My riddle is beyond all words; like the knotted pine of Iwashiro, even if a thousand years pass, who could ever untie it?
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems II 526

Headnote: "At a place where people were telling riddles"
The poet says that his riddle is beyond words, and like the knotted pine of Iwashiro, no one could solve it even in a thousand years. The headnote shows it was composed at a game of posing and solving riddles. Bringing in the knotted pine of Iwashiro, known from Prince Arima's Man'yōshū poem "Iwashiro no hamamatsu ga e o hikimusubi," it overlays the tied pine branch with an unsolvable riddle and boasts of the difficulty of his own.
The author, written as "Sone no Yoshitada," is Sone no Yoshitada. Because he served as secretary of Tango Province, he was called Sotan. He is one of the Thirty-Six Later Immortal Poets and is known for his poem "Yura no to o" in the Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "waga koto wa," means "what I say," that is, "my riddle."
Second line, "e mo iwashiro no," is a pivot word on "e mo iwaji," "cannot be put in words," and the place name Iwashiro. "E ... ji" expresses that something cannot possibly be done.
Third line, "musubimatsu," the knotted pine, refers to a pine whose branches were tied to pray for good fortune, here the knotted pine of Iwashiro. The poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "chitose o futomo," means "even if a thousand years pass," with "tomo" expressing a concessive supposition. It shares the pairing of "a thousand years" and "pine" with the exchange on the pine in 516 and 517 of this book.
Final line, "tare ka toku beki," means "who could untie it," with "ka" rhetorical. It lays "untying" the knotted pine over "solving" the riddle.
Author: Sone no Yoshitada
Source: Shui Wakashu
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