Ime ni mite koromo o toriki yosou ma ni imo ga tsukai zo sakidachinikeru

夢に見て衣を取り着装ふ間に
妹が使ぞ先立ちにける

Roma-ji: Ime ni mite koromo o toriki yosou ma ni imo ga tsukai zo sakidachinikeru
English Translation: I saw you in a dream,
and while I took my robe and dressed
to come to you,
your messenger, my love,
had come to me already
Meaning: I saw you in my dream, and while I was taking up my robe and dressing to go to you, your messenger arrived first.
Commentary: Book Twelve Dialogue Poems 3112

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Dialogue Poems"
A man answers the preceding poem: he saw her in a dream and was dressing to go to her at once when her messenger arrived first. Telling her he did dream of her, he shows his sincerity in hurrying to her.
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, "ime ni mite," means "seeing you in a dream," answering the question "ime ni mieki ya" of the preceding poem.
Line two, "koromo o toriki," means "taking my robe and putting it on."
Line three, "yosou ma ni," means "while I was getting ready."
Line four, "imo ga tsukai zo," means "your messenger," with "zo" concluded by the attributive "keru" in line five.
Line five, "sakidachinikeru," means "had come first," the woman's messenger arriving before the man could set out.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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