Koiwabite shinu chō koto wa mada naki o yo no tameshi ni mo narinubeki kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋ひわびて死ぬてふことはまだなきを
世のためしにもなりぬべきかな

Roma-ji: Koiwabite shinu chō koto wa mada naki o yo no tameshi ni mo narinubeki kana
English Translation: That one pined away
and died of love, they say,
has not happened yet—
but I may well become
the first such case in the world
Meaning: It is said no one has ever yet died of the pain of love; but I fear I may become the world's first example.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems VI 1036

Headnote: "To someone who was cold to him."
The poet says that no one has yet died of love's despair, but he may well become the world's first example. He voices the pain of loving someone cold by exaggerating that he is about to set an unheard-of precedent of dying of love.
According to the headnote, he sent it to someone who was cold to him.
The poet, listed as "Tadamine," is Mibu no Tadamine. One of the compilers of the Kokinshu, he is counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals. He is also said to have written the poetic treatise Waka Taijisshu, and his "ariake no tsurenaku mieshi wakare yori" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Koiwabite," means "pining with love," with "wabu" meaning to brood until one's strength fails.
The second line, "shinu chō koto wa," means "that one should die, as they say," with "chō" a contraction of "to iu."
The third line, "mada naki o," means "though it has never yet happened," with "o" an adversative conjunctive particle.
The fourth line, "yo no tameshi ni mo," means "an example to the world," saying that he will be the first case.
The last line, "narinubeki kana," means "I may well become," with "nubeki" strong conjecture and "kana" a final particle of exclamation.
Author: Mibu no Tadamine
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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