Utsutsu nite tare chigiriken sadamenaki yumeji ni mayou ware wa ware ka wa - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

うつつにて誰契りけん定めなき
夢路に迷ふ我は我かは

Roma-ji: Utsutsu nite tare chigiriken sadamenaki yumeji ni mayou ware wa ware ka wa
English Translation: Who was it, really,
that pledged herself in waking life?
Lost upon the path
of dreams that hold no certainty,
am I still myself at all
Meaning: Who was it, in the waking world, who made that pledge to you? Lost on the uncertain path of dreams, am I truly myself?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems III 711

Headnote: "Reply."
In this reply the poet asks who it was that made the pledge in waking life, and whether she, lost on the uncertain path of dreams, is still herself. She voices the confusion of a woman to whom the self that once pledged and the self in her present circumstances seem like different people.
It is the reply to the preceding poem, 710, composed by the woman who had been taken into the Hon'in.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us. According to the headnote, it is the poem of the woman to whom the poet of the preceding poem had pledged himself.

The first line, "Utsutsu nite," means "in waking life," set against the path of dreams that follows. Like "utsutsu ni mo" in the first line of 703 in this book, it contrasts reality and dream.
The second line, "tare chigiriken," means "who was it that pledged," taking up "ika ni chigirishi" in the fourth line of the preceding poem. The poem pauses here.
The third line, "sadamenaki," means "never settled, uncertain."
The fourth line, "yumeji ni mayou," means "lost on the path of dreams."
The last line, "ware wa ware ka wa," means "am I truly myself," with "ka wa" a rhetorical question.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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