逢ふと見て現のかひはなけれども
はかなき夢ぞ命なりける
はかなき夢ぞ命なりける
- Roma-ji
-
Au to mite utsutsu no kai wa nakeredomo hakanaki yume zo inochi narikeru
- English Translation
-
Though to dream we meet
brings nothing in the waking world,
no gain at all, yet
it is this fleeting dream
that is my very life
- Meaning
- Though dreaming that we meet brings me nothing in waking life, it is that fleeting dream that is my very life.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Love Poems I 354
Even when the poet dreams of meeting the beloved, it brings nothing once he wakes, yet that fleeting dream is what keeps him alive. Setting dream against waking, the poem conveys the sorrow of a love that can lean only on dreams.
Poem 415 in this book wishes to exchange dream and waking, saying that the meeting seen in sleep was real, and forms a pair with this poem. Poems 365 and 381 in this book also sing of dream and waking.
The author, Akisuke, is Fujiwara no Akisuke. A son of Fujiwara no Akisue, founder of the Rokujō Fujiwara house, he rose to Master of the Western Capital Office and compiled the Shikawakashū at the command of Retired Emperor Sutoku.
First line, 'au to mite', means dreaming that we meet. It corresponds to the second line 'au to mitsuru wa' of poem 415 in this book.
Second line, 'utsutsu no kai wa', means any gain in waking life, setting reality against the dream.
Third line, 'nakeredomo', means though there is none, turning to the lower half with a concession.
Fourth line, 'hakanaki yume zo', means it is the fleeting dream, the particle zo binding with the attributive keru in the final line.
Final line, 'inochi narikeru', means that is my life, closing with the exclamatory keri. It shares the theme of life with 'the dew of my life' in the closing poem, 420.
- Author
- Fujiwara no Akisuke
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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