Yo no naka ni furu kai mo naki takenoko wa waga tsumu toshi o tatematsuru nari - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

よの中にふるかひもなき竹の子は
我がつむ年をたてまつるなり

Roma-ji: Yo no naka ni furu kai mo naki takenoko wa waga tsumu toshi o tatematsuru nari
English Translation: This bamboo shoot, a child
who finds no worth in living on
in this world of ours,
offers up to you the years
that it has gathered here
Meaning: This bamboo shoot — a child who finds no worth in living on in this world — offers up to you the years it has gathered, as one gathers shoots.
Commentary: Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 331

Presenting bamboo shoots, the poet — a child with no reason to live on, he says — offers up the years he has accumulated, wishing long life to the recipient. The poem is said to have been composed when he presented bamboo shoots to his father, Retired Emperor Reizei; overlaying "takenoko" (bamboo shoot) with himself as Reizei's child, it expresses filial devotion and a wish for his parent's long life.
The next poem, 332, is said to be Retired Emperor Reizei's reply, so the two are set as an exchange between parent and child.

The first line, "yo no naka ni," is a pivot word joining "yo" (world) with "yo" (the section between bamboo joints), an associated word with the bamboo of the third line.
The second line, "furu kai mo naki," uses "furu" (to pass time): with no worth in living on. Poem 335 of this book shares this line.
The third line, "takenoko wa" (the bamboo shoot), overlays the shoot with the poet himself as a child.
The fourth line, "waga tsumu toshi o," is a pivot word joining "tsumu" (to accumulate) years with "tsumu" (to pick) bamboo shoots.
The final line, "tatematsuru nari," ends with the copula "nari": I offer them up.
Author: Retired Emperor Kazan
Source: Shika Wakashu
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