Wabinureba ima hata onaji Naniwa naru miotsukushi te mo awamu to zo omou - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

わびぬれば今はた同じ難波なる
みをつくしても逢はむとぞ思ふ

Roma-ji: Wabinureba ima hata onaji Naniwa naru miotsukushi te mo awamu to zo omou
English Translation: Now that I despair,
it is all the same at last;
like the channel posts
at Naniwa, though it cost my life,
I will meet you, so I resolve.
Meaning: Now that I am in despair, it is all the same; like the channel markers of Naniwa, I will meet you even if it costs me my very life.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 766

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that now that the poet is in despair, it is all the same whatever happens, and he means to meet her even at the cost of his life, like the channel markers of Naniwa. Pivoting "miotsukushi" on the channel markers of Naniwa Bay and "mi o tsukushi," to exhaust oneself, it expresses a fierce love that would not mind ruin. It is a celebrated poem chosen for the Hyakunin Isshu, and it also appears in the Gosenshū as a poem sent after his affair with the Kyōgoku Lady, a consort of Emperor Uda, became known. It shares "awamu" with the preceding poem, 765.
The author, written as "Motoyoshi no Miko," is Prince Motoyoshi. The first son of Emperor Yōzei, he was known as an elegant and amorous prince, and the collection Motoyoshi Shinnō Shū has come down to us.

First line, "wabinureba," means "now that I am in despair," with "nure" the perfective form of the perfective "nu" and "ba" expressing cause. It is the same line as the first line of 773 in this book, "wabinureba."
Second line, "ima hata onaji," means "it is all the same now," with "hata" meaning "after all." The poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "Naniwa naru," means "at Naniwa" in Settsu Province.
Fourth line, "miotsukushi te mo," is a pivot word: "miotsukushi" means the channel markers of Naniwa Bay and "mi o tsukushi," to exhaust oneself.
Final line, "awamu to zo omou," means "I mean to meet you," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by the attributive "omou." It uses the same word as the fourth line of the preceding poem, 765, "awamu to imo ni."
Author: Prince Motoyoshi
Source: Shui Wakashu
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