Aimite no nochi tsurakaraba yoyo o hete kore yori masaru koi ni madowamu - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ひ見ての後つらからば世々を経て
これよりまさる恋に惑はむ

Roma-ji: Aimite no nochi tsurakaraba yoyo o hete kore yori masaru koi ni madowamu
English Translation: If after we meet
coldness should come between us,
then through age on age
in a love still worse than this
one will wander lost
Meaning: If, after we have met, coldness comes between us, then through age after age there will be wandering lost in a love far worse than this.
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 398

Should coldness come after they have met, there will be wandering through age after age in a love more painful than the present one. In the form of a vow, the poem asks for a heart that does not change after meeting. Readings differ as to whose change of heart is meant.
Some manuscripts name Shikibu of the Empress's Household as the author.
After the preceding poem, 397, reproached a change of heart after meeting, this poem warns against coldness after meeting.

First line, 'aimite no', means after we have met and pledged ourselves.
Second line, 'nochi tsurakaraba', means if later there is coldness, the irrealis with ba forming a supposition.
Third line, 'yoyo o hete', means passing through age after age of rebirth, a retribution reaching into lives to come.
Fourth line, 'kore yori masaru', means greater than this, deeper than the pain of the present love.
Final line, 'koi ni madowamu', means will wander lost in love, using the conjectural mu.
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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