うつつには逢ふこと難し玉の緒の
よるは絶えせず夢に見えなん
よるは絶えせず夢に見えなん
- Roma-ji
-
Utsutsu ni wa au koto katashi tama no o no yoru wa taesezu yume ni mienan
- English Translation
-
In the waking world
it is so hard to meet you;
like a jeweled string
twisted, unbroken at night,
may you appear in my dreams.
- Meaning
- In waking life it is so hard to meet; like a string of jewels twisted unbroken, may you appear in my dreams every night without fail.
- Commentary
-
Book Thirteen Love Poems III 809
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The poem says that since it is hard to meet in waking life, it wishes the beloved would appear in dreams every night without fail. Using words associated with the string of jewels, it sings of the poignant wish to meet unbroken, if only in dreams.
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, "utsutsu ni wa," means "in waking life," contrasting with dreams.
Second line, "au koto katashi," means "meeting is hard," with a caesura here. It shares the difficulty of meeting with "au koto wa katawarezuki no" in 784.
Third line, "tama no o no," means "of the string threading jewels," leading to "yoru," twisting, and "tae," breaking.
Fourth line, "yoru wa taesezu," is a pivot word: "yoru" means "night" and "twisting" a cord, with "tae," breaking, an associated word of the jewel string.
Final line, "yume ni mienan," means "may you appear in my dreams," with "nan" expressing a wish directed at another. Taking up "yume o dani" in the preceding poem, 808, it is the second poem wishing to see in dreams.
- Author
- Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
- Source
- Shui Wakashu
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Yume o dani ika de katami ni miteshi kana awade nuru yo no nagusame ni sen
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Inishie o ika de ka to nomi omou mi ni koyoi no yume o haru ni nasaba ya