Narete nochi shinan wakare no kanashiki ni inochi ni kaenu au koto mogana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

なれて後死なん別れの悲しきに
命に代へぬ逢ふこともがな

Roma-ji: Narete nochi shinan wakare no kanashiki ni inochi ni kaenu au koto mogana
English Translation: After growing close,
how sad the parting would be
when I came to die;
may there be a meeting, then,
not bought at the cost of life
Meaning: Since it would be so sad to part in death once we had grown close, I wish there could be a meeting that need not be bought with my life.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 725

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Since it would be sad to part in death after growing close, he says, I wish there were a meeting not bought with my life. Love poems often say that life is a small price for a meeting, but he reasons that dying and parting after becoming intimate would only be sadder, and so wishes for a meeting that costs no life, a poem of twisted, complex love.
The author, "the monk Dōin," was the son of Fujiwara no Kiyotaka. His lay name was Atsuyori, and he is known for his deep devotion to poetry until late in life. He has a poem in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Poem 728 of this book opens with the same first line, "narete nochi." Poems 730, "au koto ni kaen hodo made," and 734, "inochi o ba au ni kaen to," sing of exchanging life for a meeting, forming a pair with the wish of this poem.

First line, "narete nochi": "after we have grown close." Poem 728 of this book opens with the same line.
Second line, "shinan wakare no": "n" is the attributive of the conjectural "mu," "of the parting in death that would come."
Third line, "kanashiki ni": "since it would be sad," giving the reason for the wish that follows.
Fourth line, "inochi ni kaenu": "nu" is the attributive of the negative "zu," "not exchanged for life." It pairs with the wish to trade life for a meeting in 730 and 734.
Fifth line, "au koto mogana": "mogana" is a final particle of wish, "would there were such a meeting."
Author: Dōin
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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