時の間のうつつをしのぶ心こそ
はかなき夢にまさらざりけれ
はかなき夢にまさらざりけれ
- Roma-ji
-
Toki no ma no utsutsu o shinobu kokoro koso hakanaki yume ni masarazarikere
- English Translation
-
A heart that longs
for waking truth that lasts
but a moment—
it is that which proves
no better than a fleeting dream
- Meaning
- A heart that longs for a mere moment of waking truth—that, surely, is no better than a fleeting dream.
- Commentary
-
Book Eleven Love Poems III 767
Headnote: "Reply."
In this reply the poet says that a heart longing for a brief moment of reality is no better than a fleeting dream. She turns his wish to meet even for a moment back on him, saying that such a heart is more fleeting than a dream.
It is the reply to the preceding poem, 766.
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 loved by the poet of the preceding poem.
The first line, "Toki no ma no," means "of a brief moment," taking up "tada katatoki no" in the fourth line of the preceding poem.
The second line, "utsutsu o shinobu," means "that longs for waking truth," taking up "utsutsu to mo gana" in the last line of the preceding poem.
In the third line, "kokoro koso," "koso" is an emphatic particle.
The fourth line, "hakanaki yume ni," means "than a fleeting dream," treating dreams as fleeting, like "yume no goto hakanaki" in the first and second lines of 765 in this book.
The last line, "masarazarikere," means "is no better," closing with the perfective "kere" in answer to "koso" in the third line, a kakarimusubi pattern.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
-
Omoine no yonayona yume ni au koto o tada katatoki no utsutsu to mo gana
- Next Poem
-
Tamatsushima fukaki irie o kogu fune no ukitaru koi mo ware wa suru kana