classic waka stream

いかに寝て見えしなるらんうたた寝の
夢より後は物をこそ思へ
Roma-ji

Ikani nete mieshi naruran utatane no yume yori nochi wa mono o koso omoe

English Translation
How did I lie down,
that you came to me in sight?
Since that fitful doze
and the dream I had therein
I am lost in brooding thought
Meaning
How was it that I slept, that you appeared to me? Ever since that dream in a fitful doze, I have done nothing but brood.
Commentary
Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1380

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the first poem of the dream sequence. Since the beloved appeared in a dream during a doze, the speaker's brooding has only grown, and she asks how she slept that he appeared. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Akazome Emon," was a daughter of Akazome no Tokimochi and wife of the scholar Ōe no Masahira. She served Rinshi, wife of Fujiwara no Michinaga, and their daughter Jōtōmon'in Shōshi.

The first line, "ikani nete," means "how did I sleep."
The second line, "mieshi naruran," means "that he appeared in my dream," and the poem breaks after it. It carries the wish to sleep the same way again and meet once more.
The third line, "utatane no," refers to dozing off without meaning to lie down. From the waterside poems of the preceding group, the book turns here to poems of dreams.
The fourth line, "yume yori nochi wa," means "after the dream."
The last line, "mono o koso omoe," closes the kakari-musubi of "koso" with the perfective form "omoe." The joy of meeting in a dream turns into brooding after waking.
Author
Akazome Emon
Source
Shin Kokin Wakashu
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