Utsukushi to omoishi imo o yume ni mite okite saguru ni naki zo kanashiki - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

うつくしと思ひし妹を夢に見て
起きて探るになきぞ悲しき

Roma-ji: Utsukushi to omoishi imo o yume ni mite okite saguru ni naki zo kanashiki
English Translation: She whom I held dear,
my beloved, in a dream
I saw her once more;
waking, I reach out to touch,
and how sad, she is not there.
Meaning: I saw my dear wife in a dream, and when I woke and reached out for her, she was not there, and that is so sad.
Commentary: Book Twenty Lament Poems 1302

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
The poet says that having seen his dear wife in a dream, he woke and reached for her, and it is sad that she is not there. It captures a piercing moment for one who has lost someone: the wife who was surely beside him in the dream is groped for on waking, and no one is there.
A similar poem appears in Book Twelve of the Man'yōshū: "utsukushi to omou wagimo o yume ni mite okite saguru ni naki ga sabushisa."

First line, "utsukushi to," means "as dear," "utsukushi" meaning a feeling of tender love.
Second line, "omoishi imo o," means "the wife I held," with "shi" the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki."
Third line, "yume ni mite," means "seeing in a dream."
Fourth line, "okite saguru ni," means "when I wake and feel for her," the gesture of one just roused from a dream.
Final line, "naki zo kanashiki," means "that she is not there is sad," with the binding particle "zo" resolved by "kanashiki," the attributive form of the adjective.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Shui Wakashu
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