Aimite mo kai nakarikeri ubatama no hakanaki yume ni otoru utsutsu wa - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ひ見ても甲斐なかりけりうばたまの
はかなき夢に劣るうつつは

Roma-ji: Aimite mo kai nakarikeri ubatama no hakanaki yume ni otoru utsutsu wa
English Translation: Though we met at last,
it was all to no avail;
in the jet-black night
fainter than a fleeting dream
was that meeting in waking life
Meaning: Even meeting you brought nothing worth the longing; our meeting in waking life proved lesser even than a fleeting dream of the night.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1157

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown."
This is the second poem of the sequence on the sorrows that follow a meeting. Though they met, it was to no avail; the meeting in waking life was lesser even than a fleeting dream. The headnote continues "Topic unknown" from the preceding poem, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Okikaze," was a son of Fujiwara no Michinari and a poet of the Kokinshū era. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

The first line, "aimite mo," means "even having met and shared a night." "Aimiru" refers to a man and woman becoming lovers.
The second line, "kai nakarikeri," means "it was to no avail," with a pause after the second line. The auxiliary "keri" marks realization, showing a disappointment understood only after meeting. Following the preceding poem's fear of a change of heart, this one voices disappointment in the meeting itself.
The third line, "ubatama no," is a pillow word for night, blackness, dreams, and the like; here it modifies "dream."
The fourth line, "hakanaki yume ni," means "than a fleeting dream." To liken a lovers' meeting to a dream and to call dreams fleeting is a convention of love poetry.
The last line, "otoru utsutsu wa," means "the waking world that is lesser." The second and last lines are inverted, so that the poem answers back: the real meeting, lesser even than a dream, was to no avail. Against the convention that dreams are fleeting, this poem turns the argument around and says that waking life is the lesser, leading into the dream poems that follow.
Author: Fujiwara no Okikaze
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Hitogokoro usuhanazome no karigoromo sate dani arade iro ya kawaran
Next Poem: Nakanaka no monoomoi somete nenuru yo wa hakanaki yume mo e ya wa miekeru