Hito no mi mo narawashi mono o awazu shite iza kokoromimu koi ya shinuru to - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人の身もならはしものを逢はずして
いざ試みむ恋ひや死ぬると

Roma-ji: Hito no mi mo narawashi mono o awazu shite iza kokoromimu koi ya shinuru to
English Translation: They say a person
grows accustomed to anything
so without our meeting
come, let me put to the test
whether one can die of love
Meaning: They say the body grows used to anything; so, without meeting you, let me try and see whether one really dies of love.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 518

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Since the body grows used to anything, the poet proposes to stay apart and test whether one truly dies of love. Turning the conventional phrase "dying of love" on its head, it faces love's suffering in a tone half self-mocking and half defiant. Placed beside the preceding poem, 517, it takes love and death as its theme.

First line, "They say a person": hito no mi mo means a person's body too.
Second line, "grows accustomed to anything": narawashi mono wo means "though it is a thing of habit," with mono wo adversative.
Third line, "so without our meeting": awazu shite means without meeting.
Fourth line, "come, let me put to the test": iza kokoromimu means "come, let me try," with mu expressing intention. The poem pauses here in an inverted structure.
Fifth line, "whether one can die of love": koi ya shinuru to means "whether one dies of love." Whereas the final line "though I should die of love" in poems 492 and 494 of this book is a resolve to face death, this poem makes a trial of it.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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