Aimite wa shini senu mi to zo narinu beki tanomuru ni dani noburu inochi wa - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ひ見ては死にせぬ身とぞなりぬべき
頼むるにだに延ぶる命は

Roma-ji: Aimite wa shini senu mi to zo narinu beki tanomuru ni dani noburu inochi wa
English Translation: If we were to meet,
I would surely become
one who never dies,
for a life that lengthens so
even when given hope alone!
Meaning: If we could meet, I would surely become one who never dies, for even being given hope makes my life grow longer.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 692

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that since the poet's life grows longer even when he is merely given hope, if they could actually meet he would surely become one who never dies. It expresses the joy of feeling one's life prolonged by even a slight promise, in the exaggerated claim that meeting would make him deathless. Where the preceding poem, 691, reproached one who only gives hope, this poem finds joy in being given hope, the two contrasting over "tanomu." It also forms a reversal of the poems on dying of love in 682 and 684.

First line, "aimite wa," means "if we could meet."
Second line, "shini senu mi to zo," means "one who never dies," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by "beki" in the third line.
Third line, "narinu beki," means "I would surely become," with "nu" perfective and "beki" the attributive form of the conjectural "beshi." The poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "tanomuru ni dani," means "even being given hope," the same word "tanomuru" as in 690 and 691.
Final line, "noburu inochi wa," means "a life that grows longer," giving the reason for the upper verse in inverted order.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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