白露のおきてあひ見ぬことよりは
衣返しつつ寝なんとぞ思ふ
衣返しつつ寝なんとぞ思ふ
- Roma-ji
-
Shiratsuyu no okite aiminu koto yori wa kinu kaeshi tsutsu nenan to zo omou
- English Translation
-
Rather than lie awake
like the white dew that settles,
and never meet you,
I will turn my robe inside out
and think that I will sleep
- Meaning
- Rather than stay awake like the settling white dew and never see you, I think I will turn my robe inside out and go to sleep.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Love Poems IV 826
Headnote: "Topic unknown."
The poet says that rather than lie awake like the white dew and never meet the beloved, he would turn his robe inside out and sleep. Drawing on the belief that sleeping in a robe turned inside out lets one see the beloved in a dream, he sings of the wish to meet at least in dreams.
862 and 863 in this book likewise use "shiratsuyu no okite," with dew carrying "rising," to sing of parting and longing.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us. The text gives the poet as "yomibito mo," indicating that the poem is anonymous.
The first line, "Shiratsuyu no," means "like the white dew," leading into "oki" in the second line because dew "settles." 862 in this book, which opens with "akatsuki no" and sets "shiratsuyu no" in its third line, also leads on to the same "okite."
The second line, "okite aiminu," means "lying awake and not meeting," with "oki" meaning both dew "settling" and "rising" from bed.
The third line, "koto yori wa," means "rather than," expressing comparison.
The fourth line, "kinu kaeshi tsutsu," means "turning my robe inside out," drawing on the charm for seeing a beloved in dreams.
The last line, "nenan to zo omou," means "I think I will sleep," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "omou."
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Gosen Wakashu
- Prev Poem
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Mishi yume no omoiideraruru yoigoto ni iwanu o shiru wa namida narikeri
- Next Poem
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Koto no ha wa nagenaru mono to iinagara omowanu tame wa kimi mo shiruran