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- Ise Monogatari
Kasugano no wakamurasaki no surigoromo
shinobu no midare kagiri shirarezu
Like the young purple of Kasuga Plain, you are fresh and beautiful; loving you in secret, my heart is tangled without limit, like the twisted pattern of a robe rubbed with dye.
Michinoku no shinobu mojizuri tare yue ni
midare somenishi ware naranaku ni
The twisted pattern of shinobu-rubbing from Shinobu in Michinoku is tangled again and again; just so, my heart has begun to be thrown into turmoil—not by anyone else’s doing but yours alone.
Oki mo sezu ne mo sede yo o akashite wa
haru no mono tote nagamekurashitsu
Neither fully awake nor asleep, I passed the night until dawn; and today as well, calling it a thing of spring, I spend the hours gazing vacantly, overcome by the spring rain and spring sorrow.
Omoi araba mugura no yado ni ne mo shinamu
hijikimono ni wa sode o shitsutsu mo
If you have any thought of me, then even in a hut overgrown with weeds we would sleep together; even without proper bedding, spreading our sleeves upon the bare mat, our hearts would be warmed.
Tsuki ya aranu haru ya mukashi no haru naranu
waga mi hitotsu wa moto no mi ni shite
Is this not the same moon? Is this spring not the spring of former days? Only I alone remain as I once was, while all else has changed.
Hito shirenu waga kayoiji no sekimori wa
yoiyoi goto ni uchi mo nenanamu
On the secret path I tread unseen by others, may the gatekeeper who stands watch there each night fall asleep night after night.
Shiratama ka nani zo to hito no toishi toki
tsuyu to kotaete kienamashi mono o
When she asked, “Is it a white jewel?” I should have answered, “It is dew,” and vanished away.
Itodoshiku sugiyuku kata no koishiki ni
urayamashiku mo kaeru nami kana
As I go ever farther on, I long for the place I have left behind; how enviable are the waves that return again.
Shinano naru Asama no take ni tatsu keburi
ochikochibito no mi ya wa togamenu
From Mount Asama in Shinano, smoke rises; do people far and near not see it and take alarm?
Karagoromo kitsutsu narenishi tsuma shi areba
harubaru kinuru tabi o shi zo omou
Like a Chinese robe worn again and again until it has grown familiar to the body, I have a wife with whom I have grown close; and so I keenly feel the long journey that has brought me far from the capital.
Suruga naru Utsu no yamabe no utsutsu ni mo
yume ni mo hito ni awanu narikeri
On Mount Utsu in Suruga, neither in waking nor even in dreams do I meet with her.
Toki shiranu yama wa Fuji no ne itsu tote ka
kanoko madara ni yuki no fururamu
A mountain that knows no season is Mount Fuji. What time does it think it is, that snow falls upon it in scattered white, like the dappled back of a fawn?
Na ni shi owaba iza koto towamu miyakodori
waga omou hito wa ari ya nashi ya to
If you truly bear the name of the capital, come, let me ask you, O capital bird: does the one I think upon still live there, or not?
Miyoshino no tanomu no kari mo hitaburu ni
kimi ga kata ni zo yoru to naku naru
On the fields of Miyoshino, even the trusting wild geese, in all earnestness, cry as they draw near toward your side; so too does my daughter turn her heart toward you.
Waga kata ni yoru to naku naru Miyoshino no
tanomu no kari o itsuka wasuremu
They cry that they draw near toward my side—those trusting geese of Miyoshino; how could I ever forget them?
Wasuru na yo hodo wa kumoi ni narinu tomo
sora yuku tsuki no meguriau made
Forget me not, though for a time I may seem lost in the clouds; until, like the moon that crosses the sky, we meet again.