Yoshie yashi shinamu yo wagimo ikeri tomo kaku nomi koso aga koiwatari name

よしゑやし死なむよ我妹生けりとも
かくのみこそ我が恋ひわたりなめ

Roma-ji: Yoshie yashi shinamu yo wagimo ikeri tomo kaku nomi koso aga koiwatari name
English Translation: Let it be, then—
I will die, my dearest love;
for even if I live,
this is all that it will be:
to go on loving you like this
Meaning: So be it—I will die, my love. Even if I live, all I will do is go on loving you like this.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems 3298

Headnote: "Envoy"
This is the envoy to the chōka (3297). If living means only endless suffering in love, he would rather die—so he calls to her with a heart driven to the edge. The chōka sings of longing for her all day long and all night through without sleep, finding no way to go on living. The envoy takes up the chōka’s close, “no means to live,” showing a passion fierce enough to speak of death.
The poet is unknown. Book Thirteen is built mainly of anonymous chōka and their envoys, and many of its poems preserve the air of old songs and ritual verse.

The first line, “yoshie yashi,” means “let it be,” expressing a resolve to let come what may.
In the second line, “mu” is intentional and “yo” a vocative particle: “I will die, my love,” addressed directly to her; the poem breaks here.
The third line, “ikeri tomo,” means “even if I live,” with “ri” stative and “tomo” concessive.
The fourth line, “kaku nomi koso,” means “only like this,” the particle “koso” governing the closing line; it is hypermetric.
The closing line, “koiwatari name,” means “I shall go on loving,” where “name” is the emphatic “nu” plus the perfective of the conjectural “mu,” closing in kakari-musubi with “koso.”
Source: Manyoshu
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