Ubatama no yume ni nani ka wa nagusamamu utsutsu ni dani mo akanu kokoro wa - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

うばたまの夢になにかはなぐさまむ
うつつにだにも飽かぬ心は

Roma-ji: Ubatama no yume ni nani ka wa nagusamamu utsutsu ni dani mo akanu kokoro wa
English Translation: In the pitch-black night
how could I in a dream
find any comfort,
when even in waking life
this heart is never satisfied?
Meaning: How could a dream in the black night ever console me, when even in waking life this heart of mine is never satisfied?
Commentary: Book Ten Names of Things 449

Headnote: "Kawanagusa"
This poem asks how a dream could console a heart that is never satisfied even in waking life. The title "kawanagusa" is hidden across the second and third lines. Kawanagusa is thought to be a plant growing in rivers, but what it refers to is uncertain, and it was counted as one of the "Three Trees" of the Kokin Denju. It is a love poem expressing endless longing for the beloved through the contrast of dream and reality.
The poet, "Fukayabu," is Kiyohara no Fukayabu. He was the great-grandfather of Sei Shonagon and was also known as a skilled player of the koto.

First line "Ubatama no" is a pillow word modifying "yume" (dream), evoking the darkness of night.
Second line "yume ni nani ka wa" uses "ka wa" rhetorically, meaning "how, in a dream?" The title begins with "ka wa."
Third line "nagusamamu" closes in the attributive "mu" in answer to "ka wa," denying that comfort can be found. With the second line, it hides the title "kawanagusa." The poem pauses here.
Fourth line "utsutsu ni dani mo" uses "dani," meaning "even," to cite waking life as the lesser case.
Fifth line "akanu kokoro wa" means "this heart that is never satisfied," supplying by inversion the subject of the third line.
Author: Kiyohara no Fukayabu
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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