Kyō sugiba shinamashi mono o yume nite mo izuko o haka to kimi ga towamashi - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

今日過ぎば死なましものを夢にても
いづこをはかと君が問はまし

Roma-ji: Kyō sugiba shinamashi mono o yume nite mo izuko o haka to kimi ga towamashi
English Translation: Had this day gone by,
I would surely have died—
and then, even in dreams,
where would you have sought me out,
what place would mark my grave
Meaning: Had this day passed without your letter, I would surely have died—and then, even in a dream, where would you have come to seek me, what place would you have taken as my grave?
Commentary: Book Ten Love Poems II 640

Headnote: "When she had withdrawn from the palace and he sent her a letter."
The poet says that had this day passed without a letter, she would have died, and asks where, even in a dream, he would then have come to seek her grave. She expresses her joy at receiving the emperor's letter together with a longing so deep it recalls death.
According to the headnote, she composed it when, having withdrawn from the palace to her family home, she received a letter from Emperor Daigo. The next poem, 641, is the emperor's reply.
The poet, Chūjō no Kōi, was a lady of the wardrobe in the service of Emperor Daigo, known as Chūjō. Few details of her life have come down to us.

The first line, "Kyō sugiba," means "had today passed," supposing that the day had gone by without his letter.
The second line, "shinamashi mono o," means "I would have died," with "mashi" an auxiliary of the counterfactual. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "yume nite mo," means "even in a dream." The next poem, 641, places "yume to nomi" in its third line, taking up this "dream."
In the fourth line, "haka" is a pivot word joining "haka," a grave, and "haka," a mark to aim for: "what place would you take as my grave and your goal."
The last line, "kimi ga towamashi," means "would you have come to see me?" closing, like the second line, with the counterfactual "mashi."
Author: Chūjō no Kōi
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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