classic waka stream

死にも生きも同じ心と結びてし
友や違はむ我れも寄りなむ
Roma-ji

Shini mo iki mo onaji kokoro to musubiteshi tomo ya tagawamu ware mo yorinamu

English Translation
In death or in life,
we swore we would share one heart,
bound fast together—
how could I turn from my friends?
I too shall go and draw near.
Meaning
We swore to share one heart in death and in life—how could I break faith with my friends? I too shall go and draw near to him.
Commentary
Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3797

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Nine poems in reply by the maidens."
Unwilling to break faith with companions sworn to share life and death, the maiden resolves to draw near to the old man as well. Her bond with the others becomes her reason for joining the rest.
This is the set in which the nine maidens who had teased the Bamboo-Cutter answer his chōka and envoys one after another. From the second poem on, almost every one ends with "I too shall draw near," so that the maidens yield to the old man one by one.
The poet is one of the nine maidens the Bamboo-Cutter met; her name is not recorded. She is a figure of the tale, one of those the old man called immortals.

First line, "shini mo iki mo," means "in death or in life." Hypermetric at six syllables, it answers the Bamboo-Cutter's envoy 3792, which set "if you die" against "if you live."
Second line, "onaji kokoro to," means "of one heart," the unity of the companions.
Third line, "musubiteshi," means "we vowed." The perfective tsu and past ki together mark a promise once firmly sealed.
Fourth line, "tomo ya tagawamu," means "how could I betray my friends?" Ya and attributive mu form a rhetorical kakari-musubi, and the poem pauses here.
Final line, "ware mo yorinamu," means "I too shall draw near," carrying on the same last line as the preceding poem, 3796.
Source
Manyoshu
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