Kaku nomi shi koi ya wataramu tamakiharu inochi mo shirazu toshi wa henitsutsu

かくのみし恋ひやわたらむたまきはる
命も知らず年は経につつ

Roma-ji: Kaku nomi shi koi ya wataramu tamakiharu inochi mo shirazu toshi wa henitsutsu
English Translation: Shall I go on so,
always longing as I do,
though this precious life,
how long it lasts, I know not,
while the years keep passing by
Meaning: Shall I go on loving like this and nothing more, not knowing how long my life will last, while the years keep slipping by?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2374

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Though life may end at any time, the years go by while the speaker merely goes on loving: this poem laments that state. Anxiety that an unrequited love will drag on, and thoughts of a life with its limits, are laid one upon the other.
The headnote continues from the preceding poem, "Expressing One's Feelings Directly." Whereas the preceding poem sang of longing at one hour of the day, evening, this poem laments a life of loving within the long flow of years, capturing the same pain of love on a different scale of time.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "kaku nomi shi": "only in this way." The particle "nomi" with the emphatic "shi" stresses that the days are spent in nothing but love.
Second line, "koi ya wataramu": "shall I go on loving?" "Wataru" attached to a verb means to keep on doing it. The question particle "ya" is answered by the attributive form of the conjectural "mu," and the poem pauses here after the second line.
Third line, "tamakiharu": a pillow word attached to "inochi," life. Its meaning is debated; one view takes it as "the soul reaching its limit."
Fourth line, "inochi mo shirazu": "not knowing even my life," that is, not knowing how long it will last. The uncertainty of life is overlaid with uncertainty about where love will lead.
Fifth line, "toshi wa henitsutsu": "while the years pass on." "Heni" is the verb "fu," to pass, with the continuative form of the perfective "nu," and "tsutsu" marks continuation. The poem trails off, leaving a lingering mood.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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