Imasara ni neme ya waga seko aratayo no hitoyo mo ochizu ime ni mie koso

今さらに寝めや我が背子新夜の
一夜もおちず夢に見えこそ

Roma-ji: Imasara ni neme ya waga seko aratayo no hitoyo mo ochizu ime ni mie koso
English Translation: Why now, at this hour,
should we lie together, love?
Of the coming nights
let not a single one pass
without you in my dreams
Meaning: Why should we sleep together now, my love? Rather, appear to me in my dreams every night from now on, without missing a single one.
Commentary: Book Twelve Dialogue Poems 3120

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Dialogue Poems"
A woman turns down the preceding request, asking why they should sleep together now, and instead asks him to appear in her dreams every night to come. Its last three lines match poem 2842 in this book, and it can be read as refusing a final night together in anticipation of the pain of parting.
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, "imasara ni," means "now, at this late hour."
Line two, "neme ya waga seko," is a rhetorical question, "should we sleep together, my love?", turning down his request. The poem pauses here.
Line three, "aratayo no," means "of the nights that come anew."
Line four, "hitoyo mo ochizu," means "without missing a single night."
Line five, "ime ni mie koso," means "please appear in my dreams"; lines three to five match the last three lines of poem 2842 in this book.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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