Waga seko wa mono na omoi so koto shi araba hi ni mo mizu ni mo ware nakenaku ni

我が背子は物な思ひそ事しあらば
火にも水にも我れなけなくに

Roma-ji: Waga seko wa mono na omoi so koto shi araba hi ni mo mizu ni mo ware nakenaku ni
English Translation: O my dearest one,
do not trouble yourself so;
should some trouble come,
into fire or into water
am I not there beside you
Meaning: Do not worry, my love; if anything should happen, into fire or into water, am I not there with you?
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 506

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Two poems by Abe no Iratsume"
Encouraging a lover who is troubled, the poet declares that if anything happens she will be there, plunging with him into fire or water. The strong words "into fire or into water" express her resolve to face hardship together and reveal a passionate side of a woman's heart. Taking up the steadfast heart of the preceding poem, this one turns it into a resolve to act.
The author, Abe no Iratsume, was a woman poet of around the early Nara period, apparently of the Abe clan, though little else is known of her.

First line, "O my dearest one," is a call to her lover.
Second line, "do not trouble yourself so," uses the prohibitive na ... so: please do not brood. The poem breaks after this line.
Third line, "should some trouble come," uses the emphatic shi and the hypothetical -ba: if anything should happen.
Fourth line, "into fire or into water," means into fire or into water, giving concrete form to her resolve to stand by him through any hardship.
Fifth line, "am I not there beside you," joins nake, the irrealis of nashi, "not be," to the negative naku: it is not that I am not there. The double negative makes a strong affirmation that she will surely be with him.
Author: Abe no Iratsume
Source: Manyoshu
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