Aimishi wa mukashigatari no utsutsu nite sono kanegoto o yume ni nase to ya - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

逢ひ見しは昔語りのうつつにて
そのかねごとを夢になせとや

Roma-ji: Aimishi wa mukashigatari no utsutsu nite sono kanegoto o yume ni nase to ya
English Translation: That we met was true,
real, though now a tale told
of long ago; must
the promises we made then
be turned by me into dreams?
Meaning: Our meeting was real, though it has become a tale of long ago; must I now turn the promises we made then into a dream?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 1299

Headnote: "On the topic 'Love That Met and Then Could Meet No More,' at the poetry contest of the third month of Kennin 1."
This is the first poem of the sequence on love that met and then could meet no more. Our meeting was real, though now a tale of long ago, the speaker says; must I turn the promises we made into a dream? According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic "Love That Met and Then Could Meet No More" at a poetry contest in the third month of Kennin 1 (1201).
The author, "the Tsuchimikado Palace Minister," is Minamoto no Michichika. Of the Murakami Genji line, he rose to Palace Minister and wielded great power as a close retainer of Retired Emperor Go-Toba. He was the father of Minamoto no Michitomo and Minamoto no Michiteru.
"Love that met and then could meet no more" is a topic for love in which the lovers met once but afterward could not meet again.

The first line, "aimishi wa," means "that we met." It corresponds to "met" in the topic.
The second line, "mukashigatari no," means "become a tale of long ago."
The third line, "utsutsu nite," means "was reality." It shows that the meeting was certainly real, but has now become no more than an old tale.
The fourth line, "sono kanegoto o," means "the promises made then." "Kanegoto" is the same word as in Ietaka's poem, 1294.
The last line, "yume ni nase to ya," means "must I make them a dream?" Contrasting the reality of meeting with the dream of promises, it sings the heart of the topic, lovers who met once and could meet no more, through a reversal of reality and dream.
Author: Minamoto no Michichika
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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