Nagaraeba hito no kokoro mo mirubeki ni tsuyu no inochi zo kanashikarikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

長らへば人の心も見るべきに
露の命ぞ悲しかりける

Roma-ji: Nagaraeba hito no kokoro mo mirubeki ni tsuyu no inochi zo kanashikarikeru
English Translation: If I could live on,
I might see that person's heart
and where it will turn—
but this life, frail as the dew,
how sorrowful it has been
Meaning: If I could live on, I might yet see where that person's heart will turn; how sad it is that my life is as fleeting as the dew.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 894

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that if she could live on she might see where the other's heart will turn, but her life is as fleeting as dew, and that is her sorrow. She hopes to live to see the beloved's heart come round to her, yet grieves that her life seems unlikely to last so long.
Following the white dew of the preceding poem, 893, this poem speaks of a life like dew. Where the preceding poem's dew settles in the heart, here dew is a life that vanishes easily, so the same image is taken from another side.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Nagaraeba," means "if I live on," with "ba" marking a supposition.
The second line, "hito no kokoro mo," means "that person's heart too," pointing to where the beloved's heart may go.
The third line, "mirubeki ni," means "I could surely see, and yet," with "ni" an adversative conjunctive particle.
The fourth line, "tsuyu no inochi zo," means "a life as frail as dew," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle. It shares the word dew with "shiratsuyu" in the preceding poem.
The last line, "kanashikarikeru," means "how sad it is," closing the "zo" of the fourth line with the attributive "keru."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Tsurashi to ya iihatete mashi shiratsuyu no hito ni kokoro wa okaji to omou o
Next Poem: Hitori nuru toki wa mataruru tori no ne mo mare ni au yo wa wabishikarikeri