Yoyo fu tomo take no hashira no hitosuji ni tatetaru fushi wa kawarazaranan

よよ経とも竹の柱のひとすぢに
立てたるふしは変はらざらなん

Roma-ji: Yoyo fu tomo take no hashira no hitosuji ni tatetaru fushi wa kawarazaranan
English Translation: Though ages may pass,
like a bamboo pillar raised
single, straight, and true,
may the resolve you have set
never change in all those years.
Meaning: Though ages may pass, like a bamboo pillar standing straight and single, may the resolve you have raised never change.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1147

Headnote: "Visiting someone who had left the world and lived in Saga, I urged him not to neglect his devotions for the next life, and as I left I saw that he had set up a bamboo pillar"
Visiting a man who had taken vows and lived in Saga, Saigyō urged him not to neglect his practice for the next life, and on leaving noticed a bamboo pillar in the hut. Though ages pass, he says, like a bamboo pillar standing single and straight, may the resolve he has set up never change.
The bamboo pillar's yo, fushi, and hitosuji are overlaid with "ages," "resolve," and "single-minded," encouraging the man to hold to his aspiration for the Buddhist path; a witty poem stringing together words tied to bamboo.

First line, “yoyo fu tomo”: yoyo pivots on "many ages" and yo, the space between bamboo nodes; tomo is a concessive supposition.
Second line, “take no hashira no”: of the bamboo pillar set up in the hut.
Third line, “hitosuji ni”: both a single straight pillar and "single-mindedly."
Fourth line, “tatetaru fushi wa”: fushi pivots on the bamboo's "node" and one's "resolve."
Fifth line, “kawarazaranan”: nan expresses a wish, "may it not change."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
Prev Poem: Take no oto mo ogi fuku kaze no sukunaki ni taguete kikeba yasashikarikeri
Next Poem: Awaretaru kusa no iori no sabishisa wa kaze yori hoka ni tou hito zo naki