夢ならでまたも逢ふべき君ならば
寝られぬいをも嘆かざらまし
寝られぬいをも嘆かざらまし
- Roma-ji
-
Yume narade mata mo au beki kimi naraba nerarenu i o mo nagekazaramashi
- English Translation
-
If you were someone
I could meet again in life
and not in dreams alone,
then I would not grieve at all
over sleep that will not come
- Meaning
- If you were someone I could meet again, not only in dreams, I would not grieve so over the sleep that will not come.
- Commentary
-
Book Ten Miscellaneous Poems II 394
The dead can be met only in dreams, yet without sleep even dreams are denied. Had the beloved been someone he could meet again other than in dreams, the poet says, he would not grieve at being unable to sleep. Through a counterfactual, the poem expresses an urgent wish of mourning to see the dead at least in dreams.
The first line, "yume narade," uses the negative "de": not in dreams.
The second line, "mata mo au beki," uses the attributive potential "beki": whom I could meet again.
The third line, "kimi naraba," is a hypothetical with the irrealis of the copula and "ba": if you were such.
The fourth line, "nerarenu i o mo," uses "i" (sleep): even the sleep that will not come.
The final line, "nagekazaramashi," combines the negative "zu" and counterfactual "mashi": I would not grieve.
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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