Koishiki o nani ni tsukete ka nagusamemu yume dani miezu nuru yo nakereba - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

恋しきを何につけてか慰めむ
夢だに見えず寝る夜なければ

Roma-ji: Koishiki o nani ni tsukete ka nagusamemu yume dani miezu nuru yo nakereba
English Translation: This longing of mine,
by what means could I console it?
Not even in dreams
do you appear, for there is
no night when I can sleep.
Meaning: By what means can I console this longing? You do not appear to me even in dreams, for there is no night on which I sleep.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 735

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "For a poetry contest in the Tenryaku era"
The poem asks by what means the poet can console this longing, for the beloved does not appear even in dreams, there being no night on which he can sleep. The headnote is the same as that of the preceding poem, 734, a poem composed for the poetry contest of the Tenryaku reign of Emperor Murakami. It expresses the grief of having no comfort at all, since longing keeps him from sleeping and so from meeting her even in a dream. Where the preceding poem lamented meeting only by night, as in a dream, this poem laments that not even the dream can be had.
The author, written as "Shitagau," is Minamoto no Shitagō. Of the Saga Genji line, he took part, as one of the Five Men of the Pear Chamber, in compiling the Gosenshū and in reading the Man'yōshū, and he compiled the dictionary Wamyō Ruijushō. He is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "koishiki o," means "this longing."
Second line, "nani ni tsukete ka," means "by what means," with the binding particle "ka" resolved by the attributive "mu" in the third line.
Third line, "nagusamemu," means "could I console it," and the poem breaks after this third line.
Fourth line, "yume dani miezu," means "you do not appear even in dreams," with "dani" meaning "even." It shares the word "yume" with the first line of the preceding poem, 734, "yume no goto."
Final line, "nuru yo nakereba," means "for there is no night I sleep," giving the reason for the fourth line in inverted order.
Author: Minamoto no Shitagō
Source: Shui Wakashu
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