classic waka stream

死ぬとても心を分くるものならば
君に残してなほや恋ひまし
Roma-ji

Shinu tote mo kokoro o wakuru mono naraba kimi ni nokoshite nao ya koimashi

English Translation
Even if I die,
if the heart could be divided,
if such a thing could be,
I would leave a part with you
and go on loving you still
Meaning
Even in death, if the heart could only be divided, would I not leave part of it with you and go on loving you still?
Commentary
Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 903

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Even if I die, he says, if the heart could be divided, I would leave some with you and go on loving. Even if love should bring his death, if only the heart could be divided he would leave a part of it with her and love her still after death: the poem expresses an attachment to love that transcends even death. Using the counterfactual, it conveys a still deeper feeling in the form of a wish that cannot come true.
The author, "Provisional Middle Counselor Michichika," was Minamoto no Michichika. The son of Palace Minister Minamoto no Masamichi, he later rose to Palace Minister and was called the Tsuchimikado Palace Minister. He held real power at court under Retired Emperor Go-Toba.
This poem closes the fourth book of love. Poem 840 at the head of the book laments, "ikani shite yoru no kokoro o nagusamemu," that the heart cannot be comforted at night, while this final poem wishes to divide the heart and go on loving even in death, so that the beginning and end of the book answer each other through the word "heart."

First line, "shinu tote mo": "tote mo" is a concessive supposition, "even if I die."
Second line, "kokoro o wakuru": "waku" means to divide, "that the heart can be divided." It answers "yoru no kokoro o" in the second line of 840 at the head of the book through the word "kokoro."
Third line, "mono naraba": "ba" is a hypothetical particle, "if it were so." It answers "mashi" in the last line.
Fourth line, "kimi ni nokoshite": "leaving the divided heart with you."
Fifth line, "nao ya koimashi": "nao" means "still, even so," "ya" is an interrogative particle, and "mashi" the attributive of the counterfactual auxiliary, "would I go on loving." It closes the book by showing a love that endures even after death.
Author
Minamoto no Michichika
Source
Senzai Wakashu
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