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- Shin Kokin Wakashu
Mukashi yori taesenu kawa no sue nareba yodomu bakari o nani nagekuran
Since you are the lower reaches of a river that has never ceased from of old, why should you grieve over a mere pause in its flow?
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Emperor En'yū
Mononofu no yaso ujigawa no ajirogi ni isayou nami no yukue shirazu mo
The waves that linger, hesitating, at the fishing weirs of the Uji River—no one can tell where they will go.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Waga yo o ba kyō ka asu ka to matsu kai no namida no taki to izure takaken
Waiting today, tomorrow, for my time to come, and all in vain—which is higher, this waterfall or the falls of my tears?
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Yukihira
Minakami no sora ni miyuru wa shirakumo no tatsu ni magaeru nunobiki no taki
That its source seems to lie in the sky is because the Nunobiki Falls look just like white clouds rising up.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Moromichi
Hisakata no amatsu otome ga natsugoromo kumoi ni sarasu nunobiki no taki
It is as though the maidens of heaven were spreading their summer robes to bleach in the clouds—the falls of Nunobiki.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Ariie
Mukashi kiku ama no kawara o tazunekite ato naki mizu o nagamu bakari zo
Seeking out the Heavenly Riverbank I heard of in old tales, I can only gaze upon waters that keep no trace.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Yoshitsune
Ama no gawa kayou ukigi ni koto towan momiji no hashi wa chiru ya chirazu ya
Let me ask the drifting log that travels to the Heavenly River: has the bridge of autumn leaves scattered yet, or not?
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Sanekata
Maki no ita mo koke musu bakari narinikeri ikuyo henuran seta no nagahashi
Even its boards of fine timber have grown so old that moss grows on them—through how many reigns has it lasted, the long bridge of Seta?
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Oe no Masafusa
Sadame naki na ni wa tateredo asukagawa hayaku watarishi se ni koso arikere
Though it is known for never staying the same, the Asuka River was the very same swift shoal I crossed long ago.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Nakatsukasa
Yamazato ni hitori nagamete omou kana yo ni sumu hito no kokorozuyosa o
Gazing out alone in my mountain village, I think deeply on the strength of heart of those who go on living in the world.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Jien
Yamazato ni ukiyo itowan tomo mogana kuyashiku sugishi mukashi kataran
Would that I had a friend here in the mountain village to shun this weary world with me—we would talk together of the past, spent so regretfully.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Saigyō
Yamazato wa hito kosaseji to omowanedo towaruru koto zo utoku nariyuku
In the mountain village, though I have no wish to keep people away, their visits grow ever fewer and farther between.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Saigyō
Kusa no io o itoite mo mata ikaga sen tsuyu no inochi no kakaru kagiri wa
Even if I grow weary of this grass hut, what can I do, so long as this dew-like life of mine clings on as it does?
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Jien
Wakuraba ni nado ka wa hito no towazaran otonashigawa ni sumu mi nari tomo
Why should no one ever send me word, at least now and then—even if I live beside the Otonashi, the River Without Sound?
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Gyōson
Yo o somuku yama no minami no matsukaze ni koke no koromo ya yosamu naruran
In the wind through the pines on the southern mountain where you have turned from the world, does your mossy robe feel the chill of night?
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Anpō
Itsuka ware koke no tamoto ni tsuyu okite shiranu yamaji no tsuki o mirubeki
When will the day come that I, with dew upon the sleeves of a mossy robe, gaze at the moon along some unknown mountain path?
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Ietaka