Ikeru mono tsui ni mo shinuru mono ni areba kono yo naru ma wa tanoshiku o arana

生ける者遂にも死ぬるものにあれば
この世なる間は楽しくをあらな

Roma-ji: Ikeru mono tsui ni mo shinuru mono ni areba kono yo naru ma wa tanoshiku o arana
English Translation: All that live and breathe
must die in the end at last—
since it must be so,
for as long as I am here,
let me live my days in joy.
Meaning: Since all living things must die in the end, while I am in this world let me enjoy myself.
Commentary: Book Three Miscellaneous Poems 349

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Thirteen poems in praise of sake by the Governor-General of Dazaifu, Lord Ōtomo"
This is the twelfth of the thirteen poems in praise of sake by the Governor-General Lord Ōtomo. Since every living thing must die, he wishes to live in pleasure while he can—accepting the impermanence of life and affirming the joys of this world. Following the talk of the next life in the preceding poem, it states plainly that this life is to be enjoyed.
The thirteen poems in praise of sake form a sequence in which Tabito, at Dazaifu, extols wine as a way of rejecting worldly cleverness and consoling life's sorrows, drawing on Chinese precedents such as the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.
The poet, Ōtomo no Tabito, was a son of Ōtomo no Yasumaro. He served as Middle Counselor and Governor-General of Dazaifu before rising to Great Counselor, and died in Tenpyō 3 (731). Steeped in Chinese letters, he was at the center of a poetic circle with Yamanoue no Okura and others while serving in Tsukushi.

First line "All that live and breathe" means living beings.
Second line "must die in the end at last" states the certainty of death.
Third line "since it must be so" has one syllable too many.
Fourth line "for as long as I am here" takes up "this world" from the preceding poem.
Fifth line "let me live my days in joy": na is a particle of wishing.
Author: Ōtomo no Tabito
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Kono yo ni shi tanoshiku araba komu yo ni wa mushi ni tori ni mo ware wa narinamu
Next Poem: Moda orite sakashira suru wa sake nomite einaki suru ni nao shikazukeri