Omowazu mo makoto ariemu ya sanuru yo no ime ni mo imo ga miezaranaku ni

思はずもまことあり得むやさ寝る夜の
夢にも妹が見えざらなくに

Roma-ji: Omowazu mo makoto ariemu ya sanuru yo no ime ni mo imo ga miezaranaku ni
English Translation: Not thinking of her,
could I truly bear to live?
In the nights I sleep
there is never a dream
in which she does not appear
Meaning: Could I truly live without thinking of her? There is not a night I sleep when my wife does not appear in my dreams.
Commentary: Book Fifteen Exchange Poems of Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome 3735

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome"
He asks whether he could live without thinking of his wife, when there is no night she does not appear in his dreams. Her appearing in his dreams was thought to come both from his longing for her and from her longing for him. It expresses that day and night, even in dreams, he cannot escape his thoughts of his wife.
The author, Nakatomi no Yakamori, was a son of Nakatomi no Azumahito, from the Nakatomi clan in charge of the rites of the gods. He was exiled to Echizen Province for an offense, but was later pardoned and returned to the capital.
A left note reads "the above fourteen poems are by Nakatomi no Ason Yakamori"; the fourteen poems from 3731 to 3744 of this book were sent by Yakamori to the young woman from his place of exile. The latter half of this book contains sixty-three poems exchanged between Nakatomi no Yakamori and Sano no Otogami no Otome. According to the book's table of contents, when Yakamori took as his wife the young woman, a lady-in-waiting of the palace storehouse office, he was exiled to Echizen Province by imperial decree. The place of exile is thought to be Ajimano in Echizen, near present-day Echizen City, Fukui Prefecture.

First line, "omowazu mo": even without thinking of my wife.
Second line, "makoto ariemu ya": "ariu" means to be able to remain so, and "ya" is rhetorical: could I truly? Surely not. An eight-syllable hypermetric line, after which the poem breaks.
Third line, "sanuru yo no": "sa" is a prefix: of the nights I sleep.
Fourth line, "ime ni mo imo ga": "ime" is dream: in my dreams too, my wife.
Fifth line, "miezaranaku ni": "zara" is negative and "naku" the nominalized negative: there is no night she does not appear, a double negative making a strong affirmation.
Author: Nakatomi no Yakamori
Source: Manyoshu
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