Kishikata no mishi yo no yume ni kawaraneba ima mo utsutsu no kokochi ya wa suru

来し方の見し世の夢に変はらねば
今もうつつの心地やはする

Roma-ji: Kishikata no mishi yo no yume ni kawaraneba ima mo utsutsu no kokochi ya wa suru
English Translation: All the days gone by,
the world I saw then, are no
different from a dream,
so how could even the now
feel like waking life to me?
Meaning: Since the world I knew in days gone by is no different from a dream, how could even the present feel to me like waking life?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 761

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
The world seen in days gone by seems, looking back, no different from a dream. If so, the present too does not feel real. As the past was a dream, so the present is only a dream as well, the poem says in its sense of impermanence.

First line, “kishikata no”: of the time gone by.
Second line, “mishi yo no yume ni”: the world once seen as a dream, taking up the dream of the poems before.
Third line, “kawaraneba”: since it is no different, giving the reason.
Fourth line, “ima mo utsutsu no”: utsutsu is waking reality, set against the dream of the second line.
Fifth line, “kokochi ya wa suru”: ya wa is rhetorical; does it feel so? No.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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