Ikuchiyo to kagirazarikeru kuretake ya kimi ga yowai no tagui naruran - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

幾千代と限らざりける呉竹や
君が齢のたぐひなるらん

Roma-ji: Ikuchiyo to kagirazarikeru kuretake ya kimi ga yowai no tagui naruran
English Translation: The black bamboo grove,
whose thousand ages know no
limit to their span:
is it not the true companion
of my lord's long years of life?
Meaning: The black bamboo, which has flourished for countless thousands of ages without limit, must surely be the companion of my lord's long life.
Commentary: Book Ten Poems of Celebration 606

Headnote: "Composed when he was still a prince staying at the Toba Palace, at a gathering held in the quarters of the Hachijō-in, then called the Princess, where poems were recited on the topic 'Bamboo, the Friend of Distant Years'"
When Go-Shirakawa was still a prince and was staying at the Toba Palace, the residence of his father Retired Emperor Toba, a poetry gathering on the topic "Bamboo, the friend of distant years" was held in the quarters of the future Hachijō-in, then still known as the Princess, and he composed this poem there. Surely the black bamboo, flourishing for thousands of ages without limit, is the companion of my lord's years, he says. "Distant years" means long life, and treating the evergreen bamboo, which adds joint upon joint, as the friend of longevity, the poem celebrates the long life of the one being honored. The Hachijō-in was Princess Akiko, daughter of Retired Emperor Toba and the author's half-sister.
The author, "the Retired Emperor," is Go-Shirakawa. The fourth son of Emperor Toba, he became the seventy-seventh emperor and after abdicating ruled for many years as retired emperor. It was he who commanded Fujiwara no Shunzei to compile this anthology.
This poem opens the book of celebration. The next two poems, 607 and 608, come from the same gathering, and all three sing of bamboo. The final poem of the book, 640, calls an evergreen grove of cedars "a sign of eight million ages," so that the book opens with bamboo and closes with cedar, both evergreens.

First line, "ikuchiyo to": "how many thousands of ages," meaning an endless span of years. Poem 627 of this book opens with the same line.
Second line, "kagirazarikeru": "zari" is the continuative of the negative "zu" and "keru" the attributive of the past "keri," "which have known no limit." It shares its phrasing with "kagiranu tazu no" in the second line of 627.
Third line, "kuretake ya": "kuretake" is a bamboo brought from China, with fine leaves and many joints. "Ya" is an interrogative binding particle that closes with the attributive "ran" in the last line. Because the space between bamboo joints is called "yo," the "chiyo" of the first line echoes the bamboo.
Fourth line, "kimi ga yowai no": "yowai" means age or lifespan, here the long life of the one being honored.
Fifth line, "tagui naruran": "tagui" means companion. "Ran," the attributive of the present conjectural "ramu," closes the "ya" of the third line. The "friend" of the topic is woven in through this "tagui."
Author: Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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