夢よりもはかなき物は夏の夜の
暁がたの別れなりけり
暁がたの別れなりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Yume yori mo hakanaki mono wa natsu no yo no akatsukigata no wakare narikeri
- English Translation
-
More fleeting even
than a dream, what thing is there?
On a summer night,
the parting in the darkness
before the dawn, that is it
- Meaning
- What is more fleeting even than a dream? It is the parting at daybreak after a summer night.
- Commentary
-
Book Four Summer Poems 170
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet finds that what is more fleeting than a dream is the parting at daybreak after a summer night. Measuring against the dream, the very emblem of transience, he laments a morning-after parting that is more fleeting still on so short a night.
The poet, Mibu no Tadamine, was a son of Mibu no Yasutsuna and one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū. Though of low rank, he was a renowned poet and is said to have written the treatise Wakatei Jusshu on ten styles of poetry. He was the father of Mibu no Tadami and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.
The first line, "Yume yori mo," means "even than a dream," taking the dream, emblem of transience, as the measure. The next poem, 171, also sings of the dream as something fleeting.
The second line, "hakanaki mono wa," means "the thing that is fleeting."
The third line, "natsu no yo no," means "of the short summer night," singing of the short night as in the preceding poem, 169. The next poem, 171, also places "natsu no yo no" in its third line.
The fourth line, "akatsukigata no," means "before dawn," the hour when lovers part. "Akatsukigata" also appears in 191 and 197 of this book.
The last line, "wakare narikeri," means "it is the parting," with "keri" expressing a sigh of realization.
- Author
- Mibu no Tadamine
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Natsu no yo wa au na nomi shite shikitae no chiri harau ma ni ake zo shinikeru
- Next Poem
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Yoso nagara omoishi yori mo natsu no yo no mihatenu yume zo hakanakari keru