Koishi to wa ta ga nazukekemu koto naramu shinu to zo tada ni iu bekarikeru - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋しとは誰が名づけけむことならむ
死ぬとぞただに言ふべかりける

Roma-ji: Koishi to wa ta ga nazukekemu koto naramu shinu to zo tada ni iu bekarikeru
English Translation: "Longing"—who was it
that gave this feeling such a name,
what word could it be?
"Dying" is what one ought
to have called it, plain and true.
Meaning: Who was it that named this feeling "longing"? It should simply have been called "dying."
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 698

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem declares that the pain of love cannot be expressed by the word "longing" and should frankly have been called "dying." Through the intellectual move of questioning the very act of naming, it forcefully conveys the intensity of love's suffering.
It reframes as a problem of words the pain of the unfulfilled wish to meet in the preceding poem.
The author, "Fukayabu," is Kiyohara no Fukayabu. The great-grandfather of Sei Shōnagon, he served in posts such as secretary of the Bureau of Palace Artisans and was also known as a master of the koto.

The first line, "koishi to wa," means "the word 'longing'," the particle "wa" marking the topic.
The second line, "ta ga nazukekemu," means "who could have named it?", using the past conjectural "kemu."
The third line, "koto naramu," means "what word could it be," and the poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "shinu to zo tada ni," means "plainly as 'dying'," with the particle "zo" forming a kakari-musubi with "keru" in the last line.
The final line, "iu bekarikeru," means "one ought to have said," closing with the attributive "keru" in response to "zo." It has the same form as "kiku bekarikeru" at the end of 678 in this book.
Author: Kiyohara no Fukayabu
Source: Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Shikishima ya yamato ni wa aranu karakoromo koro mo hezu shite au yoshi mogana
Next Poem: Miyoshino no ōkawa no he no fujinami no nami ni omowaba waga koime ya wa