Itsu made ni ikamu inochi zo ōkata wa koitsutsu arazu wa shinamashi mono o

いつまでに生かむ命ぞおほかたは
恋ひつつあらずは死なましものを

Roma-ji: Itsu made ni ikamu inochi zo ōkata wa koitsutsu arazu wa shinamashi mono o
English Translation: Until what day
is this life of mine to last?
Rather than go on
forever lost in longing,
better far to die
Meaning: How long is this life to last? Rather than go on longing like this, I might as well die.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2913

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
Since life is limited, the poet would rather die than go on suffering in love. It follows a pattern often seen in this book, wishing for death when the pain of love becomes unbearable.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.

Line one, "itsu made ni," means "until when."
Line two, "ikamu inochi zo," means "is this life to live?", and the poem pauses here.
Line three, "ōkata wa," means "on the whole, rather."
Line four, "koitsutsu arazu wa," means "rather than go on longing," "zu wa" meaning "rather than." Poem 3205 in this book uses the same form, "koitsutsu arazu wa."
Line five, "shinamashi mono o," means "I would rather die," with "mashi" expressing the counterfactual.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Hito no mite kototogame senu ime ni ware koyoi itaramu yado sasu na yume
Next Poem: Utsukushi to omou wagimo o ime ni mite okite saguru ni naki ga sabushisa