Tokonatsu no hana o shi mireba uchihaete suguru tsukihi no kazu mo shirarezu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

常夏の花をし見ればうちはへて
過ぐる月日の数も知られず

Roma-ji: Tokonatsu no hana o shi mireba uchihaete suguru tsukihi no kazu mo shirarezu
English Translation: When I gaze upon
the flowers of ever-summer,
stretching on and on,
of the months and days that pass
I cannot keep count at all.
Meaning: Gazing at the ever-summer flowers, I lose all count of the months and days that go on passing.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Spring Poems 1079

Headnote: "For a screen at the fortieth-birthday celebration of Prince Motoyoshi on the fourteenth day of the tenth month of the seventh year of Enchō"
The poet says that gazing at the tokonatsu flowers, one loses count of the months and days that go on passing. The headnote shows it was written for a screen at the fortieth-birthday celebration of Prince Motoyoshi in the seventh year of Enchō. In the tokonatsu, the "ever-summer" flower whose very name speaks of a summer that never ends, it lays a long life that forgets the passing of time, celebrating the prince's years.
The author, Ki no Tsurayuki, was the leading compiler of the Kokinshū, wrote its kana preface and the Tosa Diary. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. Prince Motoyoshi was the eldest son of Emperor Yōzei and was known as a lover of refinement.

First line, "tokonatsu no," means "of the tokonatsu," another name for the pink, whose name, "ever-summer," echoes long life. It sings of the same flower as the final line of the next poem, 1080, "nadeshiko no hana."
Second line, "hana o shi mireba," means "when I gaze at the flowers," with "shi" an emphatic particle.
Third line, "uchihaete," means "stretching on and on," sharing the same line with the third line of 1067 in this book, both being screen poems for birthday celebrations of long life.
Fourth line, "suguru tsukihi no," means "of the months and days that pass."
Final line, "kazu mo shirarezu," means "I cannot tell the number," with "re" the irrealis of the potential auxiliary "ru" and "zu" negative. It echoes the final line of 1012 in this book, "kazu o shiru rame," in singing of the count of years in a screen poem for a celebration of long life.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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