Hikite miru ne no hi no matsu wa hodo naki o ikade komoreru chiyo ni ka aru ran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

引きて見る子の日の松はほどなきを
いかでこもれる千代にかあるらん

Roma-ji: Hikite miru ne no hi no matsu wa hodo naki o ikade komoreru chiyo ni ka aru ran
English Translation: The pine that I pull
to look at on the Day of the Rat
is so small, and yet
how is it that held within
are a thousand ages' span?
Meaning: The young pine I pull up on the Day of the Rat is so small; how can a thousand ages be held within it?
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Spring Poems 1023

Headnote: "The Day of the Rat"
The poet asks how a thousand years can be contained in the young pine pulled on the Day of the Rat, small as it is. Asking about the wonder of a thousand years of life dwelling in a little pine, it celebrates the long life of the pine of the Day of the Rat.
The author, Priest Egyō, was a monk of the mid-Heian period said to have served as lecturer at the provincial temple of Harima. He is one of the Thirty-Six Later Immortal Poets and is known for his poem "yaemugura" in the Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "hikite miru," means "pulled up to look at," speaking of pulling young pines on the Day of the Rat.
Second line, "ne no hi no matsu wa," means "the pine of the Day of the Rat."
Third line, "hodo naki o," means "though it is so small," with "o" a concessive particle.
Fourth line, "ikade komoreru," means "how can there be held within," with "ru" the attributive form of the auxiliary "ri."
Final line, "chiyo ni ka aru ran," means "a thousand years," with the binding particle "ka" resolved by the attributive form of the conjectural auxiliary "ran." It shares the long life of the pine with the second lines of the next poems, 1024, "chitose no haru wa," and 1025, "matsu no chitose mo."
Author: The Monk Egyo
Source: Shui Wakashu
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