君が代はすゑの松山はるばると
越す白波の数も知られず
越す白波の数も知られず
- Roma-ji
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Kimi ga yo wa sue no matsuyama harubaru to kosu shiranami no kazu mo shirarezu
- English Translation
-
Our lord's reign runs far
as Sue no Matsuyama,
and from far away
the white waves that cross it
are beyond all counting
- Meaning
- Our lord's reign stretches far into the future, beyond counting, like the white waves that roll from afar over Sue no Matsuyama.
- Commentary
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Book Five Celebration Poems 313
The sovereign's reign will run far into the future, its years as countless as the white waves rolling from afar over Sue no Matsuyama. The word sue means both the far end of the reign and the place name Sue no Matsuyama.
Sue no Matsuyama is known, from the Azuma poem in the Kokinshū in which a lover swears the waves would cross it should he prove faithless, as a hill the waves never cross. Poem 284 in Book Four feared the waves would cross it and wash away the first snow; this poem likens the countless waves crossing it to the countless years of the reign.
From poem 311 through poem 314 in this book come poems celebrating the long reign of the sovereign through pines, white waves and cherry blossoms.
First line, 'kimi ga yo wa', means our lord's reign, the same first line as poem 311, two poems before.
Second line, 'sue no matsuyama', is a pivot word in which sue means both the far end of the reign and the poetic place Sue no Matsuyama in Michinoku, left in kana. Sue no Matsuyama is also sung in poem 284 in Book Four.
Third line, 'harubaru to', means far and endlessly, layering the distant end of the reign with the waves rolling from afar.
Fourth line, 'kosu shiranami no', means of the white waves crossing the hill.
Final line, 'kazu mo shirarezu', means beyond all counting, showing the countless years of the reign.
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Kimi ga yo no hodo o ba shirade sumiyoshi no matsu o hisashi to omoikeru kana
- Next Poem
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Ikemizu no soko sae niou hanazakura miru tomo akaji chiyo no haru made