Ware yu nochi umaremu hito wa aga gotoku koi suru michi ni aikosu na yume

我れゆ後生まれむ人は我がごとく
恋する道にあひこすなゆめ

Roma-ji: Ware yu nochi umaremu hito wa aga gotoku koi suru michi ni aikosu na yume
English Translation: You who will be born
in the times after my own,
do not, like myself,
ever come upon the path
of love: no, never, I pray
Meaning: You who will be born after me, never, never come upon the path of love as I have done.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2375

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Addressing those to be born after him, the speaker begs them never to meet a path of love such as his own. He conveys his own suffering in the form of not wanting later generations to feel the same, and thereby proclaims how deep that suffering is.
The headnote continues from the preceding poem, "Expressing One's Feelings Directly." Where the preceding poem thought of the speaker's own life and the passing years, this poem widens its gaze to those born after. It is a love poem made memorable by likening love to a path.
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, "ware yu nochi": "after me." The particle "yu" marks a starting point, working like "yori," "from, than."
Second line, "umaremu hito wa": "people who will be born." The auxiliary "mu" in its attributive form expresses conjecture, pointing broadly to people of later ages.
Third line, "aga gotoku": "as I have." It offers the speaker's own suffering in love as an example.
Fourth line, "koi suru michi ni": "on the path of loving." It likens love to a road that people walk into.
Fifth line, "aikosu na yume": "never meet it, I pray." "Kosu" is an auxiliary of wishing something of others, "na" is a prohibitive particle, and the adverb "yume," placed last, presses the point: "never."
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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