Mukashi mishi matsu wa oigi ni narinikeri waga toshi hetaru hodo mo shirarete

昔見し松は老い木になりにけり
我が年経たるほども知られて

Roma-ji: Mukashi mishi matsu wa oigi ni narinikeri waga toshi hetaru hodo mo shirarete
English Translation: The pines I saw once,
so long ago, have become
aged and ancient trees—
and I come to know as well
how many years I've lived.
Meaning: The pines I saw long ago have grown into aged trees, and by them I come to know how many years have passed over me too.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1145

Headnote: "Once, traveling on pilgrimage to the western provinces, I stayed in retreat at the Hachiman shrine enshrined at a place called Kojima. Years later, seeing that shrine again, I found its pines had grown old"
Long before, on pilgrimage in the western provinces, Saigyō had stayed in retreat at the Hachiman shrine at Kojima in Bizen. Seeing it again years later, he found its pines grown old. The pines he once saw have become aged trees, and from them he knows how many years he himself has lived.
He lays his own aging over that of the pines, feeling the long passage of time. Where in 1096 of this book he thought of his former self at the unchanging Nonaka spring, here he sees his own age in pines that have changed.

First line, “mukashi mishi”: that I saw long ago; shi is the attributive of the past ki.
Second line, “matsu wa oigi ni”: the pines, into old trees.
Third line, “narinikeri”: nikeri marks completion and realization, "they have become"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “waga toshi hetaru”: the years I have passed.
Fifth line, “hodo mo shirarete”: re is spontaneous, "their extent too made known," the inversion conveying his feeling.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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