子の日して立てたる松に植ゑ添へん
千代重ぬべき年のしるしに
千代重ぬべき年のしるしに
- Roma-ji
-
Ne no hi shite tatetaru matsu ni uesoen chiyo kasanu beki toshi no shirushi ni
- English Translation
-
On the Day of the Rat,
to the pine set at the gate
I will add one more,
as the sign of a year that
shall heap up a thousand years.
- Meaning
- Having gone out for the Day of the Rat, I will plant the young pine beside the pine that stands at my gate, as a token of a year destined to pile up a thousand ages.
- Commentary
-
Spring Poems 6
Headnote: "When New Year's Day fell on the Day of the Rat"
This poem was composed in a year when New Year's Day fell on the first Day of the Rat. On that day people went out to the fields to pull up young pines and pray for long life. The poet resolves to plant such a pine beside the one set at the gate on New Year's Day, as a sign of an auspicious year that will heap up a thousand years.
Delighting that two festive pines, the New Year pine and the Rat Day pine, have come together, the poet layers the wish for longevity in chiyo kasanu. Following the young pines at every gate in the preceding poem, the sequence carries the same pine celebration on into the Rat Day festivities.
First line, “ne no hi shite”: having gone out on the first Day of the Rat of the New Year to pull young pines and gather herbs.
Second line, “tatetaru matsu ni”: the pine set up at the gate on New Year's Day.
Third line, “uesoen”: n expresses intention, I shall plant the Rat Day pine beside it, with a break after the third line.
Fourth line, “chiyo kasanu beki”: destined to pile up the thousand years associated with the pine, echoing also the overlap of New Year's Day and the Day of the Rat.
Fifth line, “toshi no shirushi ni”: as a sign of an auspicious year, giving in inverted order the purpose of the planting in the third line.
- Author
- Saigyō
- Source
- Sankashu
- Prev Poem
-
Kado goto ni tatsuru komatsu ni kazararete yado chō yado ni haru wa kinikeri
- Next Poem
-
Yamazato wa kasumiwatareru keshiki nite sora ni ya haru no tatsu o shiruran