思ひ寝の夜な夜な夢に逢ふことを
ただ片時のうつつともがな
ただ片時のうつつともがな
- Roma-ji
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Omoine no yonayona yume ni au koto o tada katatoki no utsutsu to mo gana
- English Translation
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That night after night
in the dreams of longing sleep
I meet with you—
if only, for a moment,
it might be waking truth
- Meaning
- Night after night I sleep thinking of you and meet you in my dreams. If only, for just a moment, it could be real.
- Commentary
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Book Eleven Love Poems III 766
Headnote: "When a woman he loved was cold to him."
The poet wishes that his meetings with her in dreams night after night might be real even for a moment. To a woman who meets him every night in dreams but is cold in waking life, he pleads to meet her in reality even briefly.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent when the woman he loved was unkind. The next poem, 767, is her reply.
The poet is listed as "anonymous," and the composer's name has not come down to us.
The first line, "Omoine no," means "of sleep filled with longing."
The second line, "yonayona yume ni," means "in dreams night after night."
The third line, "au koto o," means "meeting you." Like "au to mitsuran" in the last line of the preceding poem, 765, it sings of meeting in dreams.
The fourth line, "tada katatoki no," means "for just a moment," set against "yonayona," night after night, in the second line.
The last line, "utsutsu to mo gana," means "if only it were real," with "mo gana" expressing a wish. "Utsutsu" is set against "yume" in the second line.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Yume no goto hakanaki mono wa nakarikeri nani tote hito ni au to mitsuran
- Next Poem
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Toki no ma no utsutsu o shinobu kokoro koso hakanaki yume ni masarazarikere