Tsuraku tomo aran to zo omou yoso nite mo hito ya kenuru to kikamahoshisa ni - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

つらくともあらんとぞ思ふよそにても
人や消ぬると聞かまほしさに

Roma-ji: Tsuraku tomo aran to zo omou yoso nite mo hito ya kenuru to kikamahoshisa ni
English Translation: Though it is bitter,
I mean to go on living—
even from afar,
I should so like to hear
that you have pined away
Meaning: Bitter though it is, I mean to go on living—for I would so like to hear, even from afar, that you have wasted away and died of love.
Commentary: Book Ten Love Poems II 627

Headnote: "Someone she had come to know, who had not visited for a long time, teased her: 'How are you—are you still alive?'"
The poet says she means to go on living, however bitter it is, because she would like to hear, even from afar, that he has pined away and died. To a lover who has long stayed away and then teased her by asking if she is still alive, she returns the jab with irony.
According to the headnote, someone she had been close to, who had not visited for a long time, teased her by asking how she was and whether she was still alive.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Tsuraku tomo," means "bitter though it is."
The second line, "aran to zo omou," means "I mean to live on," with "zo" an emphatic particle closing with the attributive "omou," a kakarimusubi pattern. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "yoso nite mo," means "even from afar."
The fourth line, "hito ya kenuru to," means "that you have died," with "ya" an interrogative particle closing with the attributive "nuru."
The last line, "kikamahoshisa ni," means "because I would like to hear," inverted with the first two lines.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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