Chiyo fu beki mono o sanagara atsumu tomo kimi ga yowai o shiran mono ka wa

千世経べきものをさながら集むとも
君が齢を知らんものかは

Roma-ji: Chiyo fu beki mono o sanagara atsumu tomo kimi ga yowai o shiran mono ka wa
English Translation: Even if one gathered
every single thing that's said
to live a thousand years,
how could one ever know
the full span of my lord's life?
Meaning: Even if one gathered every last thing destined to live a thousand years, how could one ever measure the span of our lord's life?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1171

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Congratulations"
Even if one gathered every thing said to live a thousand years, how could one measure the span of the lord's life? the poet asks.
Through the hyperbole that all the things said to live a millennium, pines, cranes, tortoises, would still fall short of the lord's long life, the poem celebrates it. Following the preceding poem, which spoke of the reign's length through the number of raindrops, this one heightens the praise further.

First line, “chiyo fu beki”: destined to pass a thousand ages.
Second line, “mono o sanagara”: sanagara means "all of it, entire."
Third line, “atsumu tomo”: tomo is a concessive supposition, "even if one gathered."
Fourth line, “kimi ga yowai o”: the lord's age, his life span.
Fifth line, “shiran mono ka wa”: mono ka wa is rhetorical, "how could one know it?"
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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