Tatoekuru tsuyu to hitoshiki mi ni shi araba waga omoi ni mo kien to ya suru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

たとへ来る露と等しき身にしあらば
我が思ひにも消えんとやする

Roma-ji: Tatoekuru tsuyu to hitoshiki mi ni shi araba waga omoi ni mo kien to ya suru
English Translation: If you are a thing
like the dew to which all life
has long been likened,
will you then fade away
in the fire of my love
Meaning: If you are a being like the dew to which life has always been compared, would you then vanish in the very fire of my love?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Poems IV 1294

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet asks whether one equal to the dew long used as a figure would vanish even in the fire of the poet's love. Letting the "hi" of "omoi," love, echo "hi," fire, the poem asks whether a being as fragile as dew would melt away at the touch of burning love.
The poet is anonymous and the name is not known. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," but it is treated here as anonymous.

The first line, "Tatoekuru," means "long likened."
The second line, "tsuyu to hitoshiki," means "equal to the dew." Poem 1263 of this book likewise takes white dew as a figure for transience.
The third line, "mi ni shi araba," means "if you are such a being," with "shi" emphatic and "ba" a supposition.
The fourth line, "waga omoi ni mo," means "even in my love," with the "hi" of "omoi" echoing "hi," fire.
The last line, "kien to ya suru," means "would you vanish," with the interrogative binding particle "ya" closed by the attributive "suru." "Dew" and "vanish" are associated words.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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