Koiwabite uchinuru naka ni yukikayou yume no tadaji wa utsutsu naranamu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋ひわびてうち寝る中に行き通ふ
夢の直路はうつつならなむ

Roma-ji: Koiwabite uchinuru naka ni yukikayou yume no tadaji wa utsutsu naranamu
English Translation: Pining with my love,
I fall asleep, and then
I go back and forth
along the straight road of dreams;
if only it were real.
Meaning: Worn out with longing, I drift into sleep, and in that brief time I travel the straight road of dreams to you. If only that road were real.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 558

Headnote: "A poem from the poetry contest held at the residence of the Empress in the Kanpyō era"
The poet wishes that the direct road of dreams, along which he travels to his beloved in the brief moments of sleep after pining with love, were real. It carries the feeling that in dreams he could go straight to her without the eyes of others or any distance in between. It was composed for the poetry contest held at the residence of Empress Dowager Hanshi, mother of Emperor Uda, in the Kanpyō era, and from here poems from that contest are grouped together in this book.
Fujiwara no Toshiyuki was a poet of the early Heian period, the son of Fujiwara no Fujimaro, Inspector of Mutsu and Dewa. He served as Head Chamberlain and Captain of the Right Military Guards. He was also known as a master calligrapher and is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

First line, "koiwabite": koiwabu means to be tormented by longing, to suffer in love.
Second line, "uchinuru naka ni": uchi is a light prefix, giving the sense of "in the moment I drift off to sleep."
Third line, "yukikayou": going back and forth to the beloved in a dream, modifying "the straight road of dreams" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "yume no tadaji wa": tadaji is a straight, direct road, the path in dreams that leads to the beloved without obstacle. It corresponds to "yume no kayoiji" in the next poem, 559, so two poems by the same poet on the road of dreams stand side by side.
Fifth line, "utsutsu naranamu": utsutsu means reality and namu expresses a wish directed at something beyond oneself: "may it be real." In contrast to 552 at the head of this book, which says she would not have woken had she known it was a dream, this poem wishes to turn the dream into reality.
Author: Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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