Yume yo yume koishiki hito ni aimisu na samete no nochi ni wabishikarikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夢よ夢恋しき人に逢ひ見すな
覚めての後にわびしかりけり

Roma-ji: Yume yo yume koishiki hito ni aimisu na samete no nochi ni wabishikarikeri
English Translation: O dream, O dream,
show me not the one I love,
let us never meet,
for afterward, when I wake,
all the more forlorn I feel.
Meaning: O dream, dream, do not let me meet the one I love, for after waking it was all the more forlorn.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 709

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem calls on the dream not to let the poet meet the beloved, for the waking afterward was all the more painful. Drawing on the experience of joy at meeting in a dream turning to deep loneliness on waking, it expresses a sorrow so keen that the poet would refuse even a meeting in dreams. Together with the preceding poem, 708, it sings of dreams, and it leads into the poems from 710 on, which sing of longing after a meeting.

First line, "yume yo yume," means "O dream, dream," calling twice on the dream. It shares the word "yume" with the first line of the preceding poem, 708, "yume ka to mo."
Second line, "koishiki hito ni," means "the one I love."
Third line, "aimisu na," means "do not let me meet," with "misu" meaning to let see and "na" a final particle of prohibition. The poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "samete no nochi ni," means "after I wake." It shares "nochi," after, with the first and second lines of the next poem, 710, "aimite no nochi no."
Final line, "wabishikarikeri," means "it was forlorn," with "keri" expressing realization.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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