Toko chikashi anakama yowa no kirigirisu yume ni mo hito no mie mo koso sure - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

床近しあなかま夜半のきりぎりす
夢にも人の見えもこそすれ

Roma-ji: Toko chikashi anakama yowa no kirigirisu yume ni mo hito no mie mo koso sure
English Translation: Close beside my bed—
hush now, cricket of the night,
quiet, if you please;
for even in a dream she
might appear to me tonight
Meaning: You are close to my bed. Hush, cricket of the night, be quiet; she might appear to me, if only in a dream.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Love Poems V 1388

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
This is the ninth poem of the dream sequence. The speaker calls on the cricket singing near the bed to be quiet, since the beloved might appear, if only in a dream. The headnote gives no topic, and the circumstances of composition are not recorded.
The author, "Mototoshi," was a son of Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Toshiie, a poet of the Fujiwara clan. He was not favored in rank but served often as judge of poetry contests and became Fujiwara no Shunzei's teacher.

The first line, "toko chikashi," means "close to my bed," and the poem breaks after it. It says the cricket is singing right beside the bed.
In the second line, "anakama yowa no," "anakama" is a word for hushing someone: "shh, be quiet."
The third line, "kirigirisu," refers to what is now called the cricket. An insect singing on autumn nights, it has been sung as stirring the loneliness of sleeping alone.
The fourth line, "yume ni mo hito no," means "even in a dream, that person." It takes up the dream sequence of the preceding poems.
The last line, "mie mo koso sure," closes the kakari-musubi of "koso" with the perfective form "sure." "Mo koso" expresses concern, "since it might happen," carrying the feeling that it would be a pity to be woken when the beloved might appear in a dream. Where the preceding poem sang of the moment after waking from a dream, this one sings of the moment of falling asleep, before the dream.
Author: Fujiwara no Mototoshi
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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