Kimi ya koshi ware ya yukikemu omoezu yume ka utsutsu ka nete ka samete ka - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君や来し我や行きけむ思ほえず
夢かうつつか寝てか覚めてか

Roma-ji: Kimi ya koshi ware ya yukikemu omoezu yume ka utsutsu ka nete ka samete ka
English Translation: Did you come to me,
or was it I who went to you?
I cannot recall;
was it a dream or waking,
was I sleeping or awake
Meaning: Did you come to me, or did I go to you? I cannot tell. Was it a dream or was it real, was I asleep or awake?
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 645

Headnote: "When Narihira Ason had gone down to the province of Ise, he met in great secrecy with the woman who was then the Ise Priestess; the next morning, while he was brooding with no means to send a messenger, this came to him from the woman."
Of last night's meeting, the poet cannot tell whether he came or she went, whether it was dream or reality, whether she was asleep or awake. According to the headnote, when Narihira went down to Ise, he met secretly with the woman then serving as the Ise Priestess at the Grand Shrine, and the next morning, while he fretted with no way to send a messenger, she sent him this poem. Piling question upon question, it expresses a heart dazed after a forbidden meeting.
The author is recorded as anonymous. The headnote shows it to be the Priestess's poem, and she is widely identified as Princess Yasuko, a daughter of Emperor Montoku.
This exchange is known as the tale of the imperial hunting envoy in section 69 of The Tales of Ise, which takes its name from it. It forms a pair with Narihira's reply in the next poem.

The first line, "kimi ya koshi," means "did you come?" using ya and shi, the attributive of the past ki, to ask a question.
The second line, "ware ya yukikemu," means "or did I go?" pairing with the first line and closing with the past conjectural kemu.
The third line, "omoezu," means "I cannot tell," with a pause after the third line.
The fourth line, "yume ka utsutsu ka," means "dream or reality?" the same phrase as the second line of poem 641.
The final line, "nete ka samete ka," means "asleep or awake?" pairing with the fourth line and repeating ka to convey a bewildered heart.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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