Mezurashiku kyō tachisomuru tsuru no ko wa chiyo no mutsuki o kasanu beki kana - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

めづらしく今日たちそむる鶴の子は
千代のむつきを重ぬべきかな

Roma-ji: Mezurashiku kyō tachisomuru tsuru no ko wa chiyo no mutsuki o kasanu beki kana
English Translation: How wondrous it is:
today first cut and first standing,
this young crane chick
shall layer swaddling clothes
through a thousand ages
Meaning: How wondrous: this child, like a crane chick that today first stands, for whom swaddling clothes are first being cut, will surely layer garment upon garment across a thousand ages.
Commentary: Book Five Celebration Poems 162

Likening a newborn to a crane chick, the poem blesses the child, on the day its first swaddling clothes are cut, with a thousand years of life. Ise no Taifu served Empress Shōshi, consort of Emperor Ichijō, and the poem seems suited to a birth celebration at court or in a noble house.
By joining the crane, said to live a thousand years, to the child, and by letting one word carry both "to cut" cloth and "to stand" like a chick, the poet creates a bright and festive note of celebration.

First line, "How wondrous it is," is a word of praise for something fresh and splendid, announcing the joy of the birth at once.
Second line, "today first cut and first standing," is a pivot word: tachi means both to cut the swaddling cloth and for the crane chick to stand. Somu adds the sense of doing something for the first time.
Third line, "this young crane chick," compares the newborn to the chick of the crane, said to live a thousand years. It pairs with 167's "cranes among the reeds," chick set against grown birds.
Fourth line, "shall layer swaddling clothes," exaggerates the wearing of swaddling clothes over a thousand ages to celebrate long life. The word chiyo returns in 163, 167, and 168 and sets the keynote of the book.
Fifth line, "through a thousand ages," closes with beshi, expressing natural expectation, and the exclamatory kana. Layering garments carries the sense of layering years.
Author: Ise no Taifu
Source: Shika Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kimi ga yo ni abukumagawa no soko kiyomi chitose o hetsutsu sumamu to zo omou
Next Poem: Sugikinishi hodo o ba sutetsu kotoshi yori chiyo no kazu tsumu Sumiyoshi no matsu