Yume o dani ika de katami ni miteshi kana awade nuru yo no nagusame ni sen - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夢をだにいかでかたみに見てしかな
逢はで寝る夜の慰めにせん

Roma-ji: Yume o dani ika de katami ni miteshi kana awade nuru yo no nagusame ni sen
English Translation: If only in dreams,
somehow may we each see each
other, as a keepsake;
for the nights I sleep alone
I will make it my comfort.
Meaning: If only in dreams, I wish that somehow we might see each other; I will make it a comfort for the nights I sleep without meeting you.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 808

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem wishes that at least in dreams the two might see each other, and resolves to make that a comfort for nights spent sleeping without meeting. Frustrated at being unable to meet in waking life, it pins its hopes on a tryst in dreams, wishing to keep it as a token of remembrance.
The author, "Hitomaro," is Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, a court poet of the Asuka period revered as the sage of poetry and the foremost poet of the Man'yōshū, and one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets. Many Man'yōshū poems are included in the Shūishū under Hitomaro's name.

First line, "yume o dani," means "if only in dreams," with "dani" an adverbial particle expressing a minimal wish.
Second line, "ika de katami ni," is a pivot word: "katami" means "mutually" and also "keepsake," a token of remembrance, with "ika de" meaning "somehow."
Third line, "miteshi kana," means "how I wish to see," with "teshi kana" expressing one's own wish, with a caesura here.
Fourth line, "awade nuru yo no," means "of the nights I sleep without meeting." Together with the fourth line of 810, "koyoi no yume o," it sets dream poems side by side.
Final line, "nagusame ni sen," means "I will make it my comfort," with "n" expressing intention. It shares the word "nagusame" with the fourth line of 790, "nagusame ni te mo."
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Shui Wakashu
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