Kado tatete to mo sashitaru o izuku yu ka imo ga irikite ime ni mietsuru

門立てて戸も閉したるをいづくゆか
妹が入り来て夢に見えつる

Roma-ji: Kado tatete to mo sashitaru o izuku yu ka imo ga irikite ime ni mietsuru
English Translation: I closed the gate
and shut the door up tight,
so from where, I wonder,
did my darling slip inside
to come to me in dreams
Meaning: I closed the gate and shut the door, so how did my beloved get in to appear in my dreams?
Commentary: Book Twelve Dialogue Poems 3117

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Dialogue Poems"
A man wonders how his beloved got in to appear in his dreams when the gate and door were shut. Likening a dream appearance to an actual visit, it is a witty idea, and it forms a question-and-answer pair with the next poem.
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, "kado tatete," means "closing the gate," and the next poem answers with the same opening.
Line two, "to mo sashitaru o," means "though I shut the door."
Line three, "izuku yu ka," means "from where?", with "ka" a question concluded by the attributive "tsuru" in line five.
Line four, "imo ga irikite," means "my beloved came in."
Line five, "ime ni mietsuru," means "and appeared in my dream," marveling at the strength of a love that entered even a closed house in dreams.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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