Samete nochi yume narikeri to omou ni mo au wa nagori no oshiku ya wa aranu - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

覚めてのち夢なりけりと思ふにも
逢ふは名残の惜しくやはあらぬ

Roma-ji: Samete nochi yume narikeri to omou ni mo au wa nagori no oshiku ya wa aranu
English Translation: When I wake and think
"it was only a dream," still,
though a dream it was,
how could the meeting's lingering trace
not leave me full of regret?
Meaning: Even when I wake and know it was only a dream, how could I not grieve to lose the lingering trace of our meeting?
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 1125

Headnote: "Composed when a woman with whom I was intimate appeared in a dream."
This is the second poem of the sequence on dreams. Even on waking to know it was a dream, the speaker cannot help regretting the lingering trace of the meeting. According to the headnote, it was composed when a woman he was close to appeared to him in a dream.
The author, "Latter Tokudaiji Minister of the Left," is Fujiwara no Sanesada. The son of Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Kinyoshi, he rose to minister of the left, and he was called "Latter Tokudaiji" in contrast to his grandfather Saneyoshi, the Tokudaiji Minister of the Left.

The first line, "samete nochi," means "after waking." Where the preceding poem longed to be seen in a dream, this one sings of the heart after waking from a dream.
The second line, "yume narikeri to," means "that it was a dream," with "keri" marking realization. The next poem sets the same "yume narikeri to" in its second line, so the two poems are placed side by side through the same line.
The third line, "omou ni mo," means "even as I think so."
The fourth line, "au wa nagori no," means "the meeting, and its lingering trace."
The last line, "oshiku ya wa aranu," means "how could it not be a pity? it is," with "ya wa" marking a rhetorical question. Though he knows it was a dream, the lingering trace of the meeting is as dear as if it had been real.
Author: Fujiwara no Sanesada
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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