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- Izumi Shikibu Nikki
Kaoru ka ni yosouru yori wa hototogisu kikabaya onaji koe ya masaru to
Rather than recall the one I lost by likening him to this fragrance, I would hear the cuckoo itself, to learn whether its voice is the same as his, or finer still.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Izumi Shikibu
Onaji e ni nakitsutsu orishi hototogisu koe wa kawaranu mono to shiranan
We were cuckoos singing together on the very same branch. Know, then, that my voice is no different from his.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Prince Atsumichi
Uchiidede mo arinishi mono o nakanaka ni kurushiki made mo nageku kyō kana
It would have been better never to have spoken; having spoken after all, today I grieve until it hurts.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Prince Atsumichi
Kyō no ma no kokoro ni kaete omoiyare nagametsutsu nomi sugusu tsukihi o
Weigh it against what you have felt for just this one day, and imagine the months and days I pass doing nothing but gazing out in sorrow.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Izumi Shikibu
Katarawaba nagusamu kata mo ari ya sen iu kai naku wa omowazaranamu
If we were to talk together, might you not find some comfort? Please do not think me someone it is useless to speak with.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Prince Atsumichi
Nagusamu to kikeba kataramahoshikeredo mi no uki koto ni iu kai zo naki
When I hear it might comfort me, I do wish to talk with you; yet burdened as I am by sorrow, what use would words be?
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Izumi Shikibu
Haka mo naki yume o dani mide akashite wa nani o ka natsu no yogatari ni semu
If we let the night pass without sharing even a fleeting dream, what tale would we have to tell of this brief summer night?
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Prince Atsumichi
Yo to tomo ni nuru to wa sode o omou mi mo nodoka ni yume o miru yoi zo naki
For one who feels her sleeves are always wet with tears, there is never a quiet night for peaceful dreams.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Izumi Shikibu
Koi to ieba yo no tsune no to ya omouran kesa no kokoro wa tagui dani nashi
Do you think that love, when spoken of, is just the ordinary kind the world knows? This morning my heart has nothing that can be likened to it.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Prince Atsumichi
Yo no tsune no koto to mo sara ni omōezu hajimete mono o omou mi nareba
I cannot think of it at all as something ordinary in this world, for this is the first time I have known such longing.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Izumi Shikibu
Matamashi mo kabakari koso wa aramashika omoi mo kakenu kyō no yūgure
Even had I been waiting for you, would it have been as hard as this? And yet this evening I never even thought you would come.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Izumi Shikibu
Hitasura ni matsu to mo iwaba yasurawade yukubeki mono o imo ga ieji ni
Had you only told me that you were waiting with all your heart, I would have taken the road to your house without a moment's hesitation.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Prince Atsumichi
Kakaredomo obotsukanaku mo omōete kore mo mukashi no e ni koso arurame
Even though you do not come, I find myself restless and uneasy; this too must be a bond from a former life.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Izumi Shikibu
Hototogisu yo ni kakuretaru shinobine o itsu ka wa kikan kyō shi suginaba
When will I ever hear the cuckoo's muffled song, sung in secret and hidden from the world, once this day has gone by?
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Izumi Shikibu
Shinobine wa kurushiki mono o hototogisu kodakaki koe o kyō yori wa kike
Singing in secret is painful indeed; so from today, listen for the cuckoo's song ringing out from the high treetops.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Prince Atsumichi
Isa ya mada kakaru omoi o shiranu kana aite mo awade akuru mono to wa
Well, I never knew until now such a feeling as this, that two could meet and yet not truly meet, and so see the night turn to dawn.
Izumi Shikibu Nikki - Prince Atsumichi