Utsukushi to omou wagimo o ime ni mite okite saguru ni naki ga sabushisa

愛しと思ふ我妹を夢に見て
起きて探るになきが寂しさ

Roma-ji: Utsukushi to omou wagimo o ime ni mite okite saguru ni naki ga sabushisa
English Translation: My darling girl
whom I hold so dear,
I saw her in a dream,
but waking, groping for her,
the loneliness, she was not there
Meaning: I dreamed of the beloved I hold so dear, but when I woke and reached for her, she was not there, and how lonely it was.
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2914

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
The poem sings of dreaming of a beloved wife, waking, groping for her, and finding her absent. The notes list the Chinese tale "You Xian Ku," and the influence of its expressions has been pointed out. Poem 741 of Book Four, by Ōtomo no Yakamochi, shows the same idea of waking from a dream meeting and reaching out without touching the beloved.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.

Line one, "utsukushi to," means "dear." Poem 2843 in this book also opens "utsukushi to aga omou imo o."
Line two, "omou wagimo o," means "my beloved whom I think of."
Line three, "ime ni mite," means "seeing her in a dream."
Line four, "okite saguru ni," means "when I woke and groped for her."
Line five, "naki ga sabushisa," means "the loneliness of her absence," ending on a noun to leave a lingering resonance.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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