Ōsaka o kesa koekureba yamabito no chitose tsuke tote kireru tsue nari - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢坂を今朝越え来れば山人の
千歳つけとて切れる杖なり

Roma-ji: Ōsaka o kesa koekureba yamabito no chitose tsuke tote kireru tsue nari
English Translation: As I crossed this morning
over Ōsaka's barrier pass,
the mountain dweller
cut and gave me this staff, saying,
"May it add a thousand years."
Meaning: As I came over the Ōsaka pass this morning, a mountain dweller cut this staff for me, bidding it add a thousand years to my life.
Commentary: Book Ten Kagura Songs 580

The poem tells the origin of the staff in hand: coming over Ōsaka this morning, the poet was given it by a mountain dweller who cut it, bidding it add a thousand years. Presenting the staff received from a mountain dweller in service to the mountain god as an auspicious thing that brings long life, it blesses the place of the rite.
This book is devoted to kagura songs, and from its opening poem to 586 come songs sung at the court kagura, with neither author nor headnote recorded. It is related to the torimono songs sung of the staff. Poem 615, for the Great Thanksgiving Festival of the first year of Tenroku, also sings of the staff of Yoshida village to celebrate the sovereign's long life, sharing the device of entrusting a thousand ages to a staff.

First line, "Ōsaka o," means "over the Ōsaka barrier," a place name on the border between Yamashiro and Ōmi.
Second line, "kesa koekureba," means "as I came over this morning," with "ba" after the perfective form meaning "when I did so."
Third line, "yamabito no," means "a mountain dweller," suggesting one who serves the mountain god.
Fourth line, "chitose tsuke tote," means "bidding it add a thousand years," entrusting long life to the staff. The word "chitose" recurs throughout this book, as in the fourth line of 591, "matsu no chitose no," and the first line of 607, "chitose furu."
Final line, "kireru tsue nari," means "is the staff that was cut," with "ru" the attributive form of the auxiliary "ri" of continuing state and "nari" assertive.
Source: Shui Wakashu
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