Inishie no tora no tagui ni mi o nageba saka to bakari wa towamu to zo omou - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いにしへの虎のたぐひに身を投げば
さかとばかりは問はむとぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Inishie no tora no tagui ni mi o nageba saka to bakari wa towamu to zo omou
English Translation: If like those of old
who cast themselves to the tiger,
I should throw my life away,
"Is that so?" at least, I think,
you would ask of me, if only that.
Meaning: If, like the one long ago who gave his body to the starving tiger, I were to throw myself away, then surely you would at least ask, "Is that so?"
Commentary: Book Eight Miscellaneous Poems I 508

Headnote: "Sent by a man who ardently loved a woman who already had a husband"
The poet says that if he were to cast himself away like the one of old who gave his body to a starving tiger, the beloved would surely at least ask, "Is that so?" The headnote shows it was sent by a man who ardently loved a woman who already had a husband. Drawing on the story of self-sacrifice in which Prince Sattva, the Buddha in a former life, gave his body to a starving tigress, it expresses an urgent love that, even after proving a devotion worth dying for, would ask for just a word in return. Following the two preceding poems lamenting the world, it closes this book.
Where the opening poem, 432, began the book with a self passing through the world brooding before the moon, this closing poem ends it with a resolve to throw one's life away, and the beginning and end of the book answer each other through the word "omou."

First line, "inishie no," means "of long ago."
Second line, "tora no tagui ni," means "like the example of the tiger," pointing to the story of self-sacrifice in which one gave his body to a starving tiger.
Third line, "mi o nageba," means "if I were to throw myself," with "ba" after the irrealis form expressing supposition.
Fourth line, "saka to bakari wa," means "just 'Is that so,'" a slight word from the beloved.
Final line, "towamu to zo omou," means "I think you would ask," resolving "zo" with the attributive "omou." Through the word "omou" it answers "mono omou" in the second line of the opening poem, 432.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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