Au to miru koto o kagireru yumeji nite samuru wakare no nakaramashikaba

逢ふと見ることを限れる夢路にて
覚むる別れのなからましかば

Roma-ji: Au to miru koto o kagireru yumeji nite samuru wakare no nakaramashikaba
English Translation: Though it be a road
limited to dreams alone
where we seem to meet,
if there were no parting there
in the waking from that dream!
Meaning: Even on the road of dreams, where all I have is to see us meeting, if only there were no parting when I wake.
Commentary: Love Poems 582

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Meeting in a dream"
Even if this is a love that can be met only in dreams, the poet wishes that at least there were no parting through waking. Resigned to meeting her only in dreams, he grieves that even the dream is cut off when he wakes.
Where the preceding poem dwelt on the brooding left in waking life after a dream meeting, this one laments the end of the dream itself, the parting of waking, viewing the same topic from within the dream.

First line, “au to miru”: to see that we meet, that is, to see her in a dream.
Second line, “koto o kagireru”: limited to that alone, a love that can be met only in dreams.
Third line, “yumeji nite”: yumeji is the path traveled in dreams to the beloved, answering the topic.
Fourth line, “samuru wakare no”: the parting of waking, waking from the dream likened to parting from the beloved.
Fifth line, “nakaramashikaba”: mashikaba is counterfactual: if only there were none; the consequence is left unsaid, leaving a lingering sense.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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