Hikari sasu mikasa no yama no asahi koso ge ni yorozuyo no tameshi narikere

光さす三笠の山の朝日こそ
げに万代のためしなりけれ

Roma-ji: Hikari sasu mikasa no yama no asahi koso ge ni yorozuyo no tameshi narikere
English Translation: The rising morning sun
that shines its light upon
Mount Mikasa—
truly it is the emblem
of a reign ten thousand years.
Meaning: The morning sun shining over Mount Mikasa—it is truly the emblem of a reign lasting ten thousand ages.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1178

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Congratulations"
The morning sun rising and shining over Mount Mikasa is truly the emblem of a reign lasting ten thousand ages, the poet says.
Mount Mikasa, behind the Kasuga Shrine, was sung in congratulatory poems as the seat of the Fujiwara clan deity and for its name, which recalls the "canopy" sheltering the emperor. The morning sun that rises unchanging each day is laid over an eternal reign. Against the night stars of the preceding poem, this one sings of morning light.

First line, “hikari sasu”: shining its light.
Second line, “mikasa no yama no”: of Mount Mikasa in Yamato, a poetic place.
Third line, “asahi koso”: koso is emphatic, answered by the realis kere in the fifth line.
Fourth line, “ge ni yorozuyo no”: ge ni means "truly."
Fifth line, “tameshi narikere”: closing the koso construction, "it is indeed the emblem."
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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