Kinō made au ni shi kaeba to omoishi o kyō wa inochi no oshiku mo aru kana - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

昨日まで逢ふにし換へばと思ひしを
今日は命の惜しくもあるかな

Roma-ji: Kinō made au ni shi kaeba to omoishi o kyō wa inochi no oshiku mo aru kana
English Translation: Until yesterday,
"if it's the price of our meeting,"
so I thought, and yet
today this life of mine
has grown so precious to me
Meaning: Until yesterday I thought I would give my life gladly if it were the price of meeting you; yet today, having met you, how dearly I wish to live.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1152

Headnote: "Sent the next morning after he had first gone to visit someone."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence on the early days of a love affair. Until yesterday he thought he would not grudge his life in exchange for meeting her, but today, having met her, life has become precious. According to the headnote, it is a morning-after poem sent the day after he first visited the woman.
The author, "Rengi-kō," is Fujiwara no Yoritada. A son of the Regent and Chancellor Fujiwara no Saneyori, he rose to Regent and Chancellor himself. Rengi-kō is the posthumous name given to him.

The first line, "kinō made," presents his feelings before the meeting as belonging to the past. It pairs with "today" in the fourth line, showing that his heart has changed entirely with the meeting.
The second line, "au ni shi kaeba to," quotes the fourth line of the preceding poem exactly. It takes up that poem's resolve, that life is no loss in exchange for meeting, as his own thought until yesterday. The line has eight syllables, one more than the norm.
The third line, "omoishi o," means "so I thought, and yet." The concessive particle "o" leads into the change of heart in the lower verse.
The fourth line, "kyō wa inochi no," pairs with "yesterday" in the first line. Where the preceding poem paid no heed to life, this one turns its eyes to life on the day of meeting.
The last line, "oshiku mo aru kana," means "how precious it is," closing with the exclamatory "kana." It states plainly how a lover's heart shifts: before meeting, life seems worth throwing away; after meeting, it becomes dear. The same feeling appears in Fujiwara no Yoshitaka's poem, "For your sake, the life / I would not have grudged at all / now I only wish / might last for a long, long time." Saigyō's poem 1155 in this book also regrets having wished only to live until the meeting, treating the same shift of heart from another angle.
Author: Fujiwara no Yoritada (Rengi-kō)
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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