Poem 343 from Collection of Japanese Poems Ancient and Modern, Volume 7: Congratulations
waga kimi ha
chiyo ni mashimase
sazareishi no
iwaoto narite
koke no musu made
|
my lord
may you live a thousand years
till pebbles grow to
ancient boulders and dark
green moss covers their sides
|
Author unknown
This poem expresses a wish for the emperor’s longevity. The lyrics of the Japanese national anthem are derived from this poem.
Translation modified from the translation of poem 343 in Kokinshū: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern by Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine Henkenius in order to match differences in the source Japanese.
Three Poems from Collection of Japanese Poems Ancient and Modern, Volume 7: Congratulations
waga kimi ha
chiyo ni mashimase
sazareishi no
iwaoto narite
koke no musu made
|
my lord
may you live a thousand years
till pebbles grow to
ancient boulders and dark
green moss covers their sides
|
Poem 343, Author unknown
This poem expresses a wish for the emperor’s longevity. The lyrics of the Japanese national anthem are derived from this poem.
kaku shitsutsu
to ni mo kaku ni mo
nagaraete
kimi ga yachiyoni
au yoshi mogana
|
may life go on like this
flowing smoothly with no ripple
to mar it
until we meet each of us
in our eight-thousandth year
|
Poem 347, Emperor Kōkō
This poem was composed by Emperor Kōkō (830–887) to celebrate the poet Henjō’s (816–890) seventieth birthday. Henjō and Emperor Kōkō are thought to have had a close relationship formed through writing and sharing waka.
Chihayaburu
kami ya kirikemu
tsuku kara ni
chitose no saka mo
koenu bera nari
|
is this the handiwork
of one of the awesome gods—
thrusting it before me
I shall cross even the
great hill of one thousand years
|
Poem 348, Henjō
This poem was composed by Henjō in praise of a silver cane that Emperor Kōkō commissioned as a birthday gift to one of his female relatives. The poem anticipates her delight and praises the gift’s beauty.
The translations are modified versions from those in Kokinshū: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern by Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine Henkenius,
in order to match differences in the source Japanese.
