Koishinaba koi mo shine to ya tamaboko no michiyukibito ni kotozute mo naki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋ひ死なば恋ひも死ねとや玉桙の
道行き人に言伝もなき

Roma-ji: Koishinaba koi mo shine to ya tamaboko no michiyukibito ni kotozute mo naki
English Translation: "If you die of love,
then die of love," is that it?
Along the jeweled road,
by those who pass on their way,
not a single word is sent.
Meaning: "If you must die of love, then die"—is that what you mean? Not even a single message comes to me by those who travel the road.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 937

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem asks: is it that if I die of love, then let me die? Not even a message entrusted to a traveler on the road has come. It sings of the pain of a lover's silence, felt by a heart that waits for at least a word sent through another.
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.
A similar poem appears in Book Eleven of the Man'yōshū, with the final line "koto mo tsugenaku."

First line, "koishinaba," means "if I die of love." Taking up "koite shine" of the preceding poem, 936, it is the third of the poems on dying of love. It is the same as the first line of the Man'yōshū variant of the preceding poem.
Second line, "koi mo shine to ya," means "then die of love, is that it?" with the binding particle "ya" forming a kakari-musubi with the final line.
Third line, "tamaboko no," is a pillow word modifying "michi," road.
Fourth line, "michiyukibito ni," means "to one who travels the road." The traveler overlaps with the beloved who "passes the gate" in the preceding poem, 936.
Final line, "kotozute mo naki," means "not even a message," closing with "naki," the attributive of the adjective "nashi," in answer to "ya" in the second line.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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