Practise the thinking. Keep the judgement.
侘びぬれば
Prince Motoyoshi · 元良親王
侘びぬれば
今はた同じ
難波なる
身をつくしても
逢はむとぞ思ふ
Historical kana
わびぬれば
いまはたおなじ
なにはなる
みをつくしても
あはむとぞおもふ
Original English translation
Now that I am so miserable, it is all the same: even if I spend my very self, like Naniwa’s channel markers, I mean to meet you.
History and context
The Gosen collection places this poem in its love books. Prince Motoyoshi’s speaker treats the risks of an encounter as less unbearable than the present distress; it is a poetic declaration, not a general rule for conduct.
Imagery and wordplay
Miotsukushi means a channel marker and echoes “exhausting my body”. A navigational object becomes a pledge.
Gosenshū · 後撰集恋五961
Japanese text and historical kana follow the linked Wikisource transcription. Classical poems can have variant spellings and wording in different anthologies. The source anthology reference identifies the version represented in this collection, not necessarily its earliest surviving text. English prose translations and reading notes are original interpretations; some wordplay permits more than one reading.