Ware nomi ya komotaru teeba Takasago no onoe ni tateru matsu mo komotari - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我のみや子持たるてへば高砂の
尾上に立てる松も子持たり

Roma-ji: Ware nomi ya komotaru teeba Takasago no onoe ni tateru matsu mo komotari
English Translation: "Is it I alone
who have children?" so you ask;
on Takasago's
ridge the pine that stands there
also has its little ones.
Meaning: If you ask whether I alone have children, no: the pine standing on the ridge of Takasago has its children too.
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Congratulatory Poems 1168

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that if one asks whether one alone has children, the pine standing on the ridge of Takasago has children too. Treating the young pines growing around the pine of Takasago, foremost among long-lived pines, as its children, it sings in a playful tone of the joy of having children. Following the two preceding poems, 1166 and 1167, it celebrates children through the pine.

First line, "ware nomi ya," means "is it I alone," with the binding particle "ya" expressing a question.
Second line, "komotaru teeba," means "if one asks whether I have children," with "teeba" a contraction of "to ieba."
Third line, "Takasago no," means "of Takasago" in Harima Province, famous for its long-lived pines.
Fourth line, "onoe ni tateru," means "standing on the ridge," with "ru" the attributive form of the auxiliary "ri" of continuing state.
Final line, "matsu mo komotari," means "the pine too has children," answering by repeating "komotaru" from the second line, treating the young pines as the pine's children.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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