Imasara ni kou tomo kimi ni awame ya mo nuru yo o ochizu ime ni mie koso

今さらに恋ふとも君に逢はめやも
寝る夜をおちず夢に見えこそ

Roma-ji: Imasara ni kou tomo kimi ni awame ya mo nuru yo o ochizu ime ni mie koso
English Translation: Even now, though I
should long for you, could I
ever meet you? No—
so every night I sleep, without fail,
appear to me in dreams
Meaning: Even if I long for you now, could I ever meet you? No—so appear to me in my dreams every night I sleep, without fail.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems 3283

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Envoy"
This poem follows the preceding envoy and closes the four poems noted above. Resigned that longing now will not bring a meeting, she asks at least to see him in her dreams night after night. It takes up the chōka’s (3280) “in waking life I cannot meet you—at least in dreams let me see that we meet,” and closes the sequence of the waiting woman’s laments with a wish for dreams.
The poet is unknown. Book Thirteen is built mainly of anonymous chōka and their envoys, and many of its poems preserve the air of old songs and ritual verse.

The first line, “imasara ni,” means “now, at this late hour,” taking up the chōka’s “now, at this late hour, will you come?”
In the second line, “tomo” is a concessive supposition: “even if I long.”
In the third line, “me ya” is rhetorical and “mo” adds a sigh: “could I meet you? I could not.” The poem breaks here.
In the fourth line, “ochizu” means without missing one, expressing the urgency of asking for every night.
In the closing line, “ime” (dream) is the old reading, and “koso” a particle of wish: “appear in my dreams.” It shares its close with the chōka’s “at least in dreams let me see.”
Source: Manyoshu
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