Yume to nomi omoinarinishi yo no naka o nani imasara ni odorokasuran - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

夢とのみ思ひなりにし世の中を
何今更に驚かすらん

Roma-ji: Yume to nomi omoinarinishi yo no naka o nani imasara ni odorokasuran
English Translation: As nothing but a dream
I had come to think it,
this bond of ours;
why now, after all this time,
should you wake me from it?
Meaning: Our bond, which I had come to think of as nothing but a dream, why should you now, after all this time, try to wake it again?
Commentary: Book Eighteen Miscellaneous Congratulatory Poems 1206

Headnote: "Written as a reply when the Middle Counselor Taira no Korenaka sent word after a long silence"
The poet asks why, after so long, he would wake a bond she had come to think of as nothing but a dream. The headnote shows it was written as her reply when the Middle Counselor Taira no Korenaka sent word after a long silence. To a letter coming after a long break, she coolly pushes him away, saying she has settled on thinking of their bond as a dream and does not want it roused now, yet a heart shaken by his words shows through. Following the two preceding poems on dwellings without visitors, it sings of word from one long silent.
The author, written as "Daughter of Takashina no Naritada," is Takashina no Takako. A daughter of Takashina no Naritada, she became the wife of the Regent Fujiwara no Michitaka and bore Korechika and the Empress Teishi. She is also called the Mother of the Gidō Sanshi and is known for her poem "wasureji no" in the Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "yume to nomi," means "as nothing but a dream," speaking of a bond that ended as briefly as a dream.
Second line, "omoinarinishi," means "that I had come to think," with "ni" perfective and "shi" the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki."
Third line, "yo no naka o," means "the bond between us."
Fourth line, "nani imasara ni," means "why now, after all this time," with "nani" expressing a question that answers "ran" in the final line.
Final line, "odorokasuran," means "should you try to wake me," with "odorokasu," to rouse from sleep, linked to "yume," dream, in the first line. "Ran" is an auxiliary conjecturing the cause.
Author: Takashina no Takako (Mother of Gidō Sanshi)
Source: Shui Wakashu
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