Chihayaburu kami no tamoteru inochi o ba ta ga tame ni ka nagaku to omowan - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ちはやぶる神の保てる命をば
誰がためにか長くと思はん

Roma-ji: Chihayaburu kami no tamoteru inochi o ba ta ga tame ni ka nagaku to omowan
English Translation: This life that the gods,
the mighty and swift, preserve
and keep in their care,
for whose sake would I wish it
to go on long, if not yours?
Meaning: This life that the mighty gods preserve, for whose sake would I wish it to be long, if not for yours?
Commentary: Book Ten Kagura Songs 596

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem asks for whose sake the poet would wish long the life that the gods preserve. In rhetorical form it voices the wish that life last long for the sake of that one person alone. While holding that life is ordained by the gods, it finds the reason for cherishing that life in feeling for another. Together with the next poem, 597, two poems by Hitomaro beginning with "chihayaburu" stand side by side.
The author, written as "Hitomaro," is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. A court poet who served in the reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu, he is revered as the Saint of Poetry.

First line, "chihayaburu," is a pillow word introducing "kami," the gods. The first lines of the next poem, 597, and of 601 also begin with "chihayaburu."
Second line, "kami no tamoteru," means "that the gods preserve," with "ru" the attributive form of the auxiliary "ri" of continuing state.
Third line, "inochi o ba," means "this life," with "ba" strengthening "o."
Fourth line, "ta ga tame ni ka," means "for whose sake," with the binding particle "ka" rhetorical and resolved by the attributive "n" in the final line.
Final line, "nagaku to omowan," means "would I wish it long," the rhetorical form implying that it is for that person alone that he wishes it long.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
Prev Poem: Misogi suru kyō Karasaki ni orosu ami wa kami no ukehiku shirushi narikeri
Next Poem: Chihayaburu kami mo omoi no areba koso toshi hete Fuji no yama mo moyurame