Odorokan to omou kokoro no araba ya wa nagaki nemuri no yume mo samu beki

驚かんと思ふ心のあらばやは
長き眠りの夢も覚むべき

Roma-ji: Odorokan to omou kokoro no araba ya wa nagaki nemuri no yume mo samu beki
English Translation: Just because there is
a heart that wishes to wake,
would that be enough
to rouse one from the dream
of the long, long sleep? It would not.
Meaning: Is merely having a heart that wishes to wake enough for one to rouse from the dream of the long sleep? It is not.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 845

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "From among the many poems on impermanence that I composed"
Is merely having a heart that wishes to wake enough to rouse one from the dream of the long sleep of birth and death? the poet asks, warning himself that wishing for enlightenment alone will not free one from delusion. It takes up the sleep of the preceding poem.

First line, “odorokan to”: wishing to wake; a line of six syllables.
Second line, “omou kokoro no”: the heart that thinks so.
Third line, “araba ya wa”: ya wa is a rhetorical binding particle answered by beki in the fifth line.
Fourth line, “nagaki nemuri no”: the long sleep of delusion through birth and death, taking up 'nemuri nemurite.'
Fifth line, “yume mo samu beki”: would the dream end? It would not, closing rhetorically.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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