Chihayaburu kami no igaki mo koenubeshi ima wa waga mi no oshikeku mo nashi - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

ちはやぶる神の斎垣も越えぬべし
今は我が身の惜しけくもなし

Roma-ji: Chihayaburu kami no igaki mo koenubeshi ima wa waga mi no oshikeku mo nashi
English Translation: The sacred fence
around the mighty gods' shrine,
even that I'd cross;
now for this self of mine
I have no care at all.
Meaning: I would cross even the sacred fence around the shrine of the mighty gods; now I no longer care at all what becomes of me.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 924

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that for love I might even cross the sacred fence of the gods' shrine, which no one may cross; now I no longer care for myself at all. It sings of a fierce love that has cast the self away, unafraid even of divine punishment. Crossing the fence of sacred ground was taboo, and the poem shows a resolve to meet the beloved even at the cost of breaking it.
The author, "Hitomaro", is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, a court poet of the Asuka period revered as the sage of poetry and the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, and one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. Many Man'yōshū poems are included in the Shūishū under Hitomaro's name.
This is the closing poem of the book. The opening poem, 849, is also attributed to Hitomaro, so that his poems frame the book at both ends. Where the opening cherishes hair that touched the lover's arm, the afterglow of a morning together, the close ends with a love fierce enough to cross the gods' sacred fence, the two answering each other in the depth of love.
A similar poem appears in Book Eleven of the Man'yōshū with the fourth line "ima wa waga na no."

First line, "chihayaburu," is a pillow word modifying "kami," god. It answers the third line of 868 in this book, "chihayaburu," as a poem of the gods.
Second line, "kami no igaki mo," means "even the sacred fence of the gods' shrine," with "mo" meaning "even."
Third line, "koenubeshi," means "I would surely cross it," with "nu" perfective and "beshi" conjectural. The poem breaks here.
Fourth line, "ima wa waga mi no," means "now, for myself." Where the opening poem, 849, yearns for the beloved with "hito no tamakura," the close sings of a heart that no longer regards itself.
Final line, "oshikeku mo nashi," means "I do not care at all," with "oshikeku" the ku-nominalization of the adjective "oshi." Where the final line of 870 in this book, "oshiku mo aru kana," fears for another's life, this one closes the book with a heart that no longer holds its own life dear.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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