Haka mo naki yume o dani mide akashite wa nani o ka natsu no yogatari ni semu - Izumi Shikibu Nikki(English Translation & Meaning)

はかもなき夢をたにみて明しては
何をか夏の夜語りにせむ

Roma-ji: Haka mo naki yume o dani mide akashite wa nani o ka natsu no yogatari ni semu
English Translation: If dawn should find us
without even a fleeting dream
shared through the brief night,
what would be left for us to tell
of this short summer evening?
Meaning: If we let the night pass without sharing even a fleeting dream, what tale would we have to tell of this brief summer night?
Commentary: 3 The First Night Together

On receiving her reply, the prince unexpectedly resolved to visit her in secret and made ready from midday. He summoned the man of the Right Palace Guards who usually carried his letters and told him they were going out; the man understood and attended him. The prince came in a humble carriage and had his arrival announced. Izumi Shikibu felt it was most awkward, but she could not claim to be away, and having answered him that very afternoon, she thought it unkind to send him back, so, meaning only to talk, she set out a round cushion at the west double door and let him in. The prince was every bit as graceful as people said. As they talked, the moon rose and grew very bright. "Being an old-fashioned, retiring sort," he said, "I am not used to sitting so near the edge, and I feel exposed. Let me sit where you are. I will not behave like the men you have known." She answered lightly, "How strange. I meant only to talk with you tonight. What men I have known?" Meanwhile the night grew steadily later.
The woman is Izumi Shikibu, daughter of Ōe no Masamune and, as the wife of Tachibana no Michisada, Governor of Izumi, mother of Koshikibu no Naishi. The prince is Prince Atsumichi, fourth son of Emperor Reizei. The man of the Right Palace Guards was the prince's close attendant who carried his letters and accompanied him on his outings; the title refers to a third-rank officer of the Right Inner Palace Guards.
With the night deepening and their talk still divided by the blinds, the prince asked, "Shall we spend the whole night like this?" and offered this poem.
She answered with "Yo to tomo ni nuru to wa sode o omou mi mo nodoka ni yume o miru yoi zo naki," adding, "and tonight least of all." Saying that he was not one to go about on frivolous secret visits, the prince quietly slipped inside, and they exchanged their vows.

The opening lines mean "without seeing even a fleeting dream," the dream standing for lying together, with a particle marking the least that might be hoped for and a negative connective. The third line poses the condition "if we let the night pass."
The lower verses ask "what shall we make our tale of the summer night?" through an interrogative particle answered by an auxiliary of conjecture. Against the shortness of the summer night, which dawns so quickly, he hints that it would be a pity to end with talk alone, gently asking to share her bed.
Author: Prince Atsumichi
Source: Izumi Shikibu Nikki
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