Inochi ni mo masarite oshiku aru mono wa mihatenu yume no samuru narikeri - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

命にもまさりて惜しくあるものは
見果てぬ夢の覚むるなりけり

Roma-ji: Inochi ni mo masarite oshiku aru mono wa mihatenu yume no samuru narikeri
English Translation: More precious even
than life itself, what I most
regret to lose
is the waking from a dream
before it has reached its end.
Meaning: Even more precious than life itself, what I most hate to lose is waking from a dream before I have seen it through.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 609

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that even more regrettable than losing life, which should be the most precious thing in the world, is waking from a dream of the beloved before it has ended. Through the bold exaggeration of comparing life and dreams, he expresses the poignancy of a love that can meet only in dreams. Like Komachi's poem at the head of this book, it sings of regret at waking from a dream and echoes the dream poem that opens the book.
Mibu no Tadamine was a poet of the early Heian period and the father of Mibu no Tadami. Although a low-ranking official, he was chosen as one of the compilers of the Kokinshū. He is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

First line, "inochi ni mo": mo is emphatic, implying "even more than precious life." The last poem of this book, 615, says life is no loss if exchanged for a meeting, so the two poems form a contrast over how precious life is.
Second line, "masarite oshiku": "even more regrettable than life."
Third line, "aru mono wa": the particle wa presents the topic, and the answer follows in the fourth line and after.
Fourth line, "mihatenu yume no": mihatsu means to see to the end, and nu is the attributive negative: a dream not seen through.
Fifth line, "samuru narikeri": nari is the copula and keri expresses realization. Like "samezaramashi o" in 552 and "okiukarikeru" in 575 of this book, it sings of reluctance to wake from a dream, and it closes with the same "narikeri" as the previous poem, 608.
Author: Mibu no Tadamine
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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