Hitogokoro arazu naredomo Sumiyoshi no matsu no keshiki wa kawarazarikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人心あらずなれどもすみよしの
松のけしきは変はらざりけり

Roma-ji: Hitogokoro arazu naredomo Sumiyoshi no matsu no keshiki wa kawarazarikeri
English Translation: Though the hearts of men
are no longer what they were,
at Sumiyoshi,
fair to dwell, the stately pines
have not changed in their aspect
Meaning: Though people's hearts are no longer what they once were, the pines of Sumiyoshi have not changed in the least.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Miscellaneous Poems I 1033

Headnote: "Written on a pine trunk I had shaved, when, after Tsumori no Kunimoto's death, I no longer lived at Sumiyoshi but went down briefly with Arimoto and found that people's hearts seemed all changed"
After Tsumori no Kunimoto died, the author no longer lived at Sumiyoshi, but went down there briefly with Arimoto; finding that people's hearts seemed entirely changed, he shaved the base of a pine and wrote this poem on it. Though people's hearts are not what they were, the pines of Sumiyoshi have not changed, he says. Lamenting that the people of Sumiyoshi had turned cold after Kunimoto's death, he contrasts the fickle human heart with the pines of Sumiyoshi, which alone remain as of old.
The author, "Tsumori no Kagemoto," is said to have been a son of Tsumori no Kunimoto, head priest of the Sumiyoshi Shrine.
It shares the fifth line, "kawarazarikeri," with 995 of this book, the two alike in contrasting the shifting world of people with unchanging nature. It is also close to "nanigoto mo kawariyuku meru yo no naka ni" in 1031 in singing of the changeability of human life.

First line, "hitogokoro": "people's hearts, human feeling."
Second line, "arazu naredomo": "arazu" means unlike before, "though they have become other than they were."
Third line, "Sumiyoshi no": "Sumiyoshi" is a pivot word meaning both the place name and "sumi yoshi," good to live in, echoing a life that is no longer good.
Fourth line, "matsu no keshiki wa": "the aspect of the pines of Sumiyoshi." The pines of Sumiyoshi were symbols of long life and constancy.
Fifth line, "kawarazarikeri": "keri" expresses exclamation at a realization, "they have not changed." It is the same line as the fifth line of 995 of this book.
Author: Tsumori no Kagemoto
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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