寝ぬる夜のかへさわかしく見えしかど
我が違ふれば事なかりけり
我が違ふれば事なかりけり
- Roma-ji
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Nenuru yo no kaesa wakashiku mieshikado waga chigaureba koto nakarikeri
- English Translation
-
On the night I slept
the way back seemed to me
an ill-omened one,
yet because I turned the dream
nothing came of it at all
- Meaning
- On the night I slept, the road home looked ill-omened in my dream, but because I turned the dream aside, nothing happened.
- Commentary
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Book Nine Miscellaneous Poems I 573
In the dream of the night the poet slept, ill fortune seemed to loom, yet because the dream was turned aside, nothing happened. Drawing on the custom of yumechigae, warding off the misfortune foretold by a bad dream through a charm, the poem sings of being kept safe thanks to it.
The meaning of kaesa wakashiku in the second line is not settled, but it seems to refer to an ill-omened dream of the road home.
First line, 'nenuru yo no', means of the night I slept, the attributive of the perfective nu. It refers to a dream seen at night.
Second line, 'kaesa wakashiku', has no settled reading, but kaesa means the way home, and it seems to say the road home appeared ill-omened.
Third line, 'mieshikado', means though it appeared, the realis of the past ki followed by the concessive do.
Fourth line, 'waga chigaureba', means because I turned it aside, chigau referring to warding off a bad dream's misfortune by a charm.
Final line, 'koto nakarikeri', means nothing happened, closing with the exclamatory keri and relief at being safe.
- Author
- Unknown Poet
- Source
- Kinyo Wakashu
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