Nakanaka ni yume ni ureshiki au koto wa utsutsu ni mono o omou narikeri

なかなかに夢に嬉しき逢ふことは
うつつに物を思ふなりけり

Roma-ji: Nakanaka ni yume ni ureshiki au koto wa utsutsu ni mono o omou narikeri
English Translation: Rather it would seem
that in dreams the joyful time
of our meeting means
that in waking life I must
brood all the more on my love.
Meaning: Meeting you joyfully in a dream, it turns out, only means that I must brood all the more over my love once I am awake.
Commentary: Love Poems 581

Headnote: "Meeting in a dream"
The topic is meeting the beloved in a dream. To meet her in a dream is a joy, yet on waking it proves to have been only a dream, and the longing of waking life grows deeper still. The joy of the dream is set against the pain of reality.
Three poems on this topic stand together, this one and the next two, 582 and 583, each turning the relation of dream and waking from a different angle.

First line, “nakanaka ni”: on the contrary, all the more; meeting in a dream only brings more pain.
Second line, “yume ni ureshiki”: joyful in a dream, answering the topic.
Third line, “au koto wa”: the meeting itself.
Fourth line, “utsutsu ni mono o”: utsutsu is waking reality, paired with the dream of the second line.
Fifth line, “omou narikeri”: narikeri marks realization: it turns out to mean brooding in waking life.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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