Utsutsu ni wa tada ni wa awazu ime ni dani au to mie koso aga kouraku ni

うつつには直には逢はず夢にだに
逢ふと見えこそ我が恋ふらくに

Roma-ji: Utsutsu ni wa tada ni wa awazu ime ni dani au to mie koso aga kouraku ni
English Translation: In waking life
we never meet face to face;
in dreams at least
let me see that we have met,
so deeply do I long for you
Meaning: In waking life we never meet face to face; at least in my dreams, let me see us meeting, so deeply do I long for you.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2850

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
Since they cannot meet in reality, the poet wishes at least to meet in dreams. Placed last among the ten Hitomaro Collection poems under "Expressing Thoughts Directly," it forms with the two preceding poems a sequence of three that rely on dreams.
Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet who served under Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. The left note shows that this poem was taken from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection, though scholars differ on whether it is Hitomaro's own work or a song he recorded.

Line one, "utsutsu ni wa," means "in reality," and pairs with "ime," the dream, in line three.
Line two, "tada ni wa awazu," means "we do not meet in person," and the poem pauses here.
Line three, "ime ni dani," means "at least in dreams." It inherits the same words from poems 2848 and 2849, making three poems in a row that rely on dreams.
Line four, "au to mie koso": "koso" is a final particle of wishing, "let it appear that we meet."
Line five, "aga kouraku ni": "kouraku" is the nominalized form of "kou," adding the reason, "since I long for you so."
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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