Atarashi to nani ni inochi o omoiken wasureba furuku narinubeki mi o - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

あたらしと何に命を思ひけん
忘れば古くなりぬべき身を

Roma-ji: Atarashi to nani ni inochi o omoiken wasureba furuku narinubeki mi o
English Translation: Why did I ever think
my life too precious, too new,
to let it go,
when, forgotten, I am bound
to be cast aside and old?
Meaning: Why did I ever think my life precious, when, once forgotten by you, I am bound to grow old and be cast aside?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 923

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem asks why I ever thought my life precious, when it is a body bound to grow old and be cast aside once that person forgets me. Letting "atarashi" sound both "precious" and "new," and setting it against "furuku," old, it sings of the frailty of a self forgotten by a lover.

First line, "atarashi to," means "thinking it precious," with "atarashi" joining "precious" and "new." It contrasts with "furuku," old, before the final line.
Second line, "nani ni inochi o," means "why my life." It shares the holding of life dear with "hito no inochi no oshiku mo" in 870 of this book.
Third line, "omoiken," means "did I think," with "ken" conjecturing a past cause. The poem breaks here.
Fourth line, "wasureba furuku," means "if forgotten, growing old," contrasting new and old through "atarashi" in the first line and "furuku."
Final line, "narinubeki mi o," means "a self bound to become so," with "beki" an auxiliary of what must be and "o" adversative. It leads on into the heart that no longer holds itself dear in the next poem, 924, "ima wa waga mi no oshikeku mo nashi."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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