Yoso nagara aiminu hodo ni koishinaba nani ni kaetaru inochi to ka iwamu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

よそながら逢ひ見ぬほどに恋ひ死なば
何にかへたる命とか言はむ

Roma-ji: Yoso nagara aiminu hodo ni koishinaba nani ni kaetaru inochi to ka iwamu
English Translation: If, while still apart,
before we meet, I should die,
dying of my love,
for what could I say I gave
this life of mine in exchange?
Meaning: If I should die of love while still apart, before we ever meet, for what would I say I had exchanged my life?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 655

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem asks, if the poet should die of love while still apart, before ever meeting, for what he could say he had exchanged his life. To give one's life in exchange for a meeting would be one thing, but to die without meeting would be to die in vain, it laments. The device of exchanging life for a meeting appears also in 675, 682, and 684.

First line, "yoso nagara," means "while still apart," using the same word "yoso" as 631 and 632.
Second line, "aiminu hodo ni," means "before we ever meet."
Third line, "koishinaba," means "if I should die of love," with "ba" after the irrealis form expressing supposition.
Fourth line, "nani ni kaetaru," means "exchanged for what," with the binding particle "ka" in the final line carrying a rhetorical sense.
Final line, "inochi to ka iwamu," means "would I call this life," with the binding particle "ka" resolved by the attributive "mu."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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