Ta ga tame ni ware ga inochi o nagahama no ura ni yadori o shitsutsu ka wa koshi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

誰がために我が命をながはまの
浦に宿りをしつつかは来し

Roma-ji: Ta ga tame ni ware ga inochi o nagahama no ura ni yadori o shitsutsu ka wa koshi
English Translation: For whose sake was it
that I prayed to keep my life
long as Nagahama,
lodging on its shore each night
as I made my way back home
Meaning: For whose sake do you think I prayed to keep my life long, lodging night after night on the shore of Nagahama as I made my way back? Was it not for you?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems V 945

Headnote: "Reply."
The poet asks for whose sake he came back, lodging night after night on the shore of Nagahama and praying that his life might be long. To her harsh reproach he answers that even on the journey he wished to live long only so as to meet her again, denying any change of heart.
It is the reply to the preceding poem, 944. Taking up "kiyoki nagisa," he answers that he lodged on the shore of Nagahama on the Ise road, the two poems sharing images of the seashore to form an exchange.
The poet, listed as "Kanesuke Ason," was Fujiwara no Kanesuke. A son of Fujiwara no Toshimoto, he rose to Middle Counselor of the Junior Third Rank and was called the Tsutsumi Middle Counselor. He was the great-grandfather of Murasaki Shikibu. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, his "mika no hara wakite nagaruru izumigawa" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Ta ga tame ni," means "for whose sake," implying rhetorically that it was for her.
The second line, "ware ga inochi o," means "my life."
The third line, "nagahama no," means "of Nagahama," with "naga" joining a life kept long and the place name Nagahama.
The fourth line, "ura ni yadori o," means "lodging on the shore," taking up "nagisa" in the preceding poem to tell of lodgings on the journey.
The last line, "shitsutsu ka wa koshi," means "did I come back doing so? it was for you," with "ka wa" a rhetorical binding particle closed by the attributive "shi."
Author: Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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