Ima wa sa wa aimimu made wa katakutomo inochi to naramu koto no ha mogana - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今はさは逢ひ見むまでは難くとも
命とならむ言の葉もがな

Roma-ji: Ima wa sa wa aimimu made wa katakutomo inochi to naramu koto no ha mogana
English Translation: Now, then, even though
it may be too hard for us
to meet face to face,
would I had from you a word
that might become my life
Meaning: Now, even if it is too hard for us to meet, I would at least have some word from you that could keep me alive.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 731

Headnote: "Composed on the heart of love at the Hachijō house of the posthumous Minister of the Left"
Composed on the heart of love at the Hachijō house of Fujiwara no Nagazane, posthumously named Minister of the Left. Now, even if meeting is too hard, he says, I would have a word that could become my life. Even giving up on meeting, he wishes for just one word from her that would give him strength to live, a modest but heartfelt plea. In the headnote of the main text, "Nagazane" is noted beneath "the posthumous Minister of the Left," showing that he is meant. Nagazane rose to Provisional Middle Counselor and, because his daughter Bifukumon'in Nariko became consort of Emperor Toba, was posthumously granted the title of Minister of the Left.
The author, "Master of the Left Capital Office Akisuke," is Fujiwara no Akisuke. The son of Fujiwara no Akisue, Master of the Office of Palace Repairs, he served as Master of the Left Capital Office and compiled the Shika Wakashū at the command of Retired Emperor Sutoku. He laid the foundations of the poetics of the Rokujō Fujiwara house and has a poem in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.
Poem 750 of this book also sings of exchanging oneself for "words" to meet in the next world, sharing the entrusting of life or self to the beloved's words.

First line, "ima wa sa wa": "sa wa" means "then," "now, at this point."
Second line, "aimimu made wa": "as far as meeting."
Third line, "katakutomo": "tomo" is an adversative supposition, "even if it is hard."
Fourth line, "inochi to naramu": "mu" is a softening auxiliary, "that might become my life."
Fifth line, "koto no ha mogana": "koto no ha" means words, and "mogana" is a final particle of wish, "would I had such words." It uses the same word as "sono koto no ha ni" in the second line of 750 of this book.
Author: Fujiwara no Akisuke
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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