Koishinan inochi wa nao mo oshiki kana onaji yo ni aru kai wa nakeredo - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋ひ死なん命はなほも惜しきかな
同じ世にある甲斐はなけれど

Roma-ji: Koishinan inochi wa nao mo oshiki kana onaji yo ni aru kai wa nakeredo
English Translation: Though I'll die of love,
this life is precious to me,
still so dear, and yet
to live in the same world
brings me no reward at all
Meaning: Though I may die of love, this life is still dear to me—even if living in the same world as you brings me nothing.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1229

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the tenth poem of the sequence on resenting a cold-hearted lover and enduring the pain. Though he may die of love, life is still dear, even though living in the same world as the beloved brings him nothing. The headnote continues "Topic unknown" from the preceding poem, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Minister of Justice Yorisuke," is Fujiwara no Yorisuke, a court noble of the late Heian period who served as Minister of Justice. He was known as a master of kemari, the court football game.

The first line, "koishinan," means "that will die of love."
The second line, "inochi wa nao mo," means "life, even so," taking up the preceding poem's refusal to hate life.
The third line, "oshiki kana," means "how dear it is," with a pause after the exclamatory "kana." In "inochi no oshiku mo aru kana" of 1152 of this book, life was held dear out of the joy of meeting; here it is held dear without meeting. The same heart that treasures life is sung in reverse.
The fourth line, "onaji yo ni aru," means "living in the same world," pointing to the very fact of living in this world with the beloved.
The last line, "kai wa nakeredo," means "though there is no reward." By inversion, the contradiction—life is dear though there is no reward in living—is shown last, conveying a lingering wish to live on in the same world all the same.
Author: Fujiwara no Yorisuke
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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