Tsurugitachi moroha no ue ni yukifurete shini kamo shinamu koitsutsu arazu wa

剣大刀諸刃の上に行き触れて
死にかもしなむ恋ひつつあらずは

Roma-ji: Tsurugitachi moroha no ue ni yukifurete shini kamo shinamu koitsutsu arazu wa
English Translation: Upon the two edges
of a sword and great blade
should I go and touch,
and so put an end to life,
rather than go on in love
Meaning: Should I go and throw myself upon the double edge of a sword and die, rather than go on longing like this?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2636

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Rather than go on in this painful love, should the speaker throw himself upon the double edge of a sword and die? The poem expresses love at the height of its suffering. Through the violent image of casting oneself onto sharp blades, it cries out a longing that can no longer be borne.
Like the preceding poem, it speaks through the sword. Where the preceding poem reflects on a valiant man unable to bear love, this poem intensifies the feeling to the point of speaking of death. The closing "koitsutsu arazu wa" also appears in poem 86 of Book Two, Empress Iwanohime's "kaku bakari koitsutsu arazu wa," and poem 2646 in this book shares the same final line.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "tsurugitachi": "sword and great blade," here meaning a double-edged sword and leading into "moroha" (two edges).
Second line, "moroha no ue ni": "upon the double edge," "moroha" being a blade with edges on both sides.
Third line, "yukifurete": "going to touch," letting one's body touch the sharp edge.
Fourth line, "shini kamo shinamu": "shall I die?" The particle "kamo" is answered by the perfective "nu" in its form "na" and the volitional "mu" in the attributive form, in a kakari-musubi construction; the poem breaks here.
Fifth line, "koitsutsu arazu wa": "rather than go on loving." "Zu wa" is an expression peculiar to the Man'yoshu meaning "rather than," inverted with the fourth line. The line is hypermetric.
Source: Manyoshu
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