Koke musaba hiroi mo kaemu sazareishi no kazu o mina toru yowai ikuyo zo - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

苔むさば拾ひもかへむさざれ石の
数をみな取る齢幾世ぞ

Roma-ji: Koke musaba hiroi mo kaemu sazareishi no kazu o mina toru yowai ikuyo zo
English Translation: When the moss has grown,
I will gather new ones still;
of these little stones,
taking up the whole count,
how many ages, your years?
Meaning: When moss grows on them, I will gather fresh pebbles again; how many ages, then, will be the years of one who takes up every one of these pebbles?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Congratulatory Poems 1163

Headnote: "When the Crown Prince called for stones for the stone-catching game, thirty-one were wrapped, with one letter written on each, and presented"
The poet says that when moss grows on the pebbles they will be gathered anew, and asks how many ages will be the years of one who takes up all of them. The headnote shows that when the Crown Prince called for stones for the game of stone-catching, thirty-one stones were wrapped, one letter written on each, and presented. Written one letter to a stone, the thirty-one stones become the thirty-one syllables of this very poem, and laying the count of stones over the prince's years, it celebrates a life without end.
Like the Kokinshū congratulatory poem "waga kimi wa chiyo ni yachiyo ni sazareishi no iwao to narite koke no musu made," it expresses long years through pebbles and moss.

First line, "koke musaba," means "if moss should grow," with "ba" after the irrealis form expressing supposition. It speaks of years long enough for moss to grow on the pebbles.
Second line, "hiroi mo kaemu," means "I will gather new ones too," meaning to pick up fresh stones in place of mossy ones and keep the game going. The poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "sazareishi no," means "of the little stones," a hypermetric line of six syllables. It shares with the final line of the preceding poem, 1162, "masago narikeri," the device of counting years by sand or pebbles.
Fourth line, "kazu o mina toru," means "taking up the whole count," laying the gathering of stones in the game over the gathering of years.
Final line, "yowai ikuyo zo," means "how many ages will your years be," with "zo" at the end strengthening the question. Closing on nouns, it praises a life without end.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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