My favorite Tanka

I didn't really pay much attention to Tanka classes but there has been one that I loved since I read it on a textbook.

Omoitsutsu Nurebaya Hitonometsuran

Yumetoshiriseba Samezaramashio

By Onono Komachi

My translation would go like this:
I was with you in my dream. Was it because I fell asleep thinking of you?
I wouldｎ’t have woken up if I knew it was a dream.

The sound of each letter in the tanka flows smoothly and the feeling as a whole is very touching. And every time I have a dream about someone special (which is rare), I recall this tanka. I'm like "damn, I wish I could dream that dream again!" But all I can do is think about that dream all day!

The author, Onono Komachi is a very famous poet of the Heian era (9th century). She was chosen by Kino Tsurayuki as one of the "six poets (rokkasen)." Despite her poems being so famous, little is known about Komachi. Even the picture below was drawn after her death.