Omoiki ya toshi no tsumoru wa wasurarete koi ni inochi no taen mono to wa - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

思ひきや年の積もるは忘られて
恋に命の絶えんものとは

Roma-ji: Omoiki ya toshi no tsumoru wa wasurarete koi ni inochi no taen mono to wa
English Translation: Could I have thought it?
That the years piled up on me
should be forgotten,
and that for love my life
should be about to end
Meaning: Could I ever have imagined it? That, forgetting the years piled up upon me, my life should be about to end for love.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 866

Headnote: "Composed by His Majesty when the courtiers composed poems on the topic 'love in old age'"
This poem was composed by the Retired Emperor when the courtiers composed poems on the topic "love in old age." Could I have imagined, he says, that forgetting the years piled up, my life should end for love? He sings of his astonishment that, though old, he has forgotten his age and fallen into a love for which he would risk his life. It is a poem that frankly expresses the spirit of the topic, an old man consumed by love, as his own surprise.
The author, "the Retired Emperor," was Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa. The fourth son of Emperor Toba, he became the seventy-seventh sovereign. After abdicating he ruled from retirement for many years and commanded Fujiwara no Shunzei to compile this anthology. He loved imayō songs and is also known for compiling the Ryōjin Hishō.
Poem 894 in this book also begins with "omoiki ya" and sings of an unexpected turn of love.

First line, "omoiki ya": "ki" is the past auxiliary and "ya" a rhetorical particle, "did I ever think it? no, never." The poem pauses here and stands in inverted order with the lines that follow. It is the same first line as 894 in this book.
Second line, "toshi no tsumoru wa": "that the years pile up," that is, that he has grown old. It answers to "old age" in the topic.
Third line, "wasurarete": "rare" is the continuative of the spontaneous auxiliary "raru," "forgotten of itself."
Fourth line, "koi ni inochi no": "my life, for love." Set against "toshi no tsumoru" in the second line, it expresses the love of an old man.
Fifth line, "taen mono to wa": "n" is an auxiliary of conjecture, "that my life should end." It closes by returning to "omoiki ya" in the first line.
Author: Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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