Tsurakarishi ōku no toshi wa wasurarete hitoyo no yume o aware to zo mishi - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

辛かりし多くの年は忘られて
一夜の夢をあはれとぞ見し

Roma-ji: Tsurakarishi ōku no toshi wa wasurarete hitoyo no yume o aware to zo mishi
English Translation: All the many years
of bitterness and sorrow
were simply forgotten;
the dream of a single night
was what I saw with deep love
Meaning: All the long, bitter years were forgotten of themselves, and I beheld that single night's dream of meeting with a heart deeply moved.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 1162

Headnote: "Sent to a woman."
This is the fourth poem of the sequence likening lovers' meetings to dreams. The many bitter years were forgotten, and he beheld the dream of a single night's meeting with deep feeling. According to the headnote, it was sent to a woman.
The author, "Fujiwara no Norinaga Ason," was a son of Fujiwara no Nakakiyo and served as governor of various provinces. He is counted among the Six Waka Companions.

The first line, "tsurakarishi," means "that were bitter." Through the attributive "shi" of the past auxiliary "ki," the days of her coldness are shown to belong to the past.
The second line, "ōku no toshi wa," means "the many years," pairing with "a single night" in the fourth line. The years and the single night, two different measures of time, are weighed against each other in one poem.
The third line, "wasurarete," means "were forgotten of themselves," the auxiliary "ru" expressing spontaneity.
The fourth line, "hitoyo no yume o," likens the meeting of a single night to a dream. In the preceding poems the dream was a fleeting thing to be kept secret, but here the dream weighs enough to make years of pain forgotten. Using the same word "dream," the value of the dream is reversed.
The last line, "aware to zo mishi," means "I saw it as deeply moving." The emphatic "zo" forms a kakari-musubi with the attributive "shi" of the past auxiliary "ki," closing with deep feeling for the single night's meeting.
Author: Fujiwara no Norinaga
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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