夢にだにまだ見えなくに恋しきは
いつに習へる心なるらん
いつに習へる心なるらん
- Roma-ji
-
Yume ni dani mada mienaku ni koishiki wa itsu ni naraeru kokoro naruran
- English Translation
-
Not even in dreams
have I yet seen you, and still
I long for you so—
when was it that my heart
learned such a thing as this
- Meaning
- I have not yet seen you even in a dream, and still I long for you. When, I wonder, did my heart learn such a thing?
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems III 740
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet wonders when his heart learned to long for someone he has not yet seen even in a dream. He voices his longing by marveling at his own heart, which loves one he has neither met nor dreamed of.
Like 603 in Book Ten, "waga kokoro itsu naraite ka minu hito o," it asks when the heart learned to love one unseen.
The poet, Ariwara no Motokata, was a grandson of Ariwara no Narihira and a son of Ariwara no Muneyana. He is known as the author of "toshi no uchi ni haru wa kinikeri," the opening poem of the Kokin Wakashū.
The first line, "Yume ni dani," means "even in dreams," with "dani" a particle naming a lesser case.
The second line, "mada mienaku ni," means "though not yet seen."
The third line, "koishiki wa," means "that I long for you."
The fourth line, "itsu ni naraeru," means "learned when," the same phrasing as "itsu naraite ka" in the second line of 603 in Book Ten.
The last line, "kokoro naruran," means "is this heart," with "ran" conjecturing a cause.
- Author
- Ariwara no Motokata
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
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