Inochi o zo ika naramu to wa omoikoshi ikite wakaruru yo ni koso arikere - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

命をぞいかならむとは思ひこし
生きて別るる世にこそありけれ

Roma-ji: Inochi o zo ika naramu to wa omoikoshi ikite wakaruru yo ni koso arikere
English Translation: It was life itself
I have worried over, how
long it would endure;
but this is a world, I see,
where we part while still alive.
Meaning: I had worried only over what would become of my life; but this, I find, is a world where we must part while still alive.
Commentary: Book Six Parting Poems 336

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poet realizes that though she had worried only over what would become of her life, this is a world where people must part while still alive. One who had feared only the parting of death here faces for the first time the pain of parting in life, and the poem conveys her surprise and grief.
Who is meant by the author's name, Uemon, is not settled. Uemon was a name given to a lady-in-waiting after the office of her father, husband, or another relative.

First line, "inochi o zo," means "it was my life," emphasized by the particle "zo."
Second line, "ika naramu to wa," means "what would become of it."
Third line, "omoikoshi," means "I have thought," with "koshi" the continuative of the irregular verb "ku" (to come) followed by the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki," resolving "zo." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line, "ikite wakaruru," means "parting while alive," pairing with "inochi" (life) in the first line. Like 307 of this book, it gazes at parting itself.
Final line, "yo ni koso arikere," means "it was such a world," with "kere" expressing the exclamation of realization, resolving "koso" in the perfective form.
Author: Uemon
Source: Shui Wakashu
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