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- Manyoshu
Uchinabiku haru sarikurashi yama no ma no tōki konure no sakiyuku mireba
Spring, with its softly bending grasses, seems to have come round—for I see the distant treetops between the hills breaking one after another into bloom.
Kigishi naku takamato no he ni sakurabana chirite nagarau mimu hito mo ga mo
Near Takamato, where the pheasants call, the cherry blossoms scatter and drift along. If only there were someone to see them with me.
Aboyama no sakura no hana wa kyō mo ka mo chirimagauramu miru hito nashi ni
Are the cherry blossoms of Mount Abo scattering in wild confusion today as well, with no one there to see them?
Kawazu naku yoshino no kawa no taki no ue no ashibi no hana zo hashi ni oku na yume
These are flowers of ashibi from beside the rapids of the Yoshino River, where the kajika frogs sing. Never, ever set them off to one side.
Harusame ni arasoikanete waga yado no sakura no hana wa sakisomenikeri
Unable to hold out against the spring rain, the cherry blossoms at my home have begun to open.
Harusame wa itaku na furi so sakurabana imada minaku ni chiramaku oshi mo
O spring rain, do not fall so hard! I have not yet seen the cherry blossoms, and how I would grieve to have them scatter.
Haru sareba chiramaku oshiki ume no hana shimashi wa sakazu fufumite mo ga mo
Plum blossoms, so sad to see scatter when spring comes—if only you would stay in bud awhile and not open yet.
Miwataseba kasuga no nobe ni kasumi tachi saki nioeru wa sakurabana ka mo
When I look out over the fields of Kasuga, haze has risen there, and what blooms so radiantly—could it be cherry blossoms?
Itsushika mo kono yo no akemu uguisu no kozutai chirasu ume no hana mimu
How soon will this night give way to dawn? I long to see the plum blossoms that the bush warbler scatters as it flits from branch to branch.
Harugasumi tanabiku kyō no yūzukuyo kiyoku teruramu takamatsu no no ni
The evening moon of this day, when the spring haze trails along, must be shining clear and pure over the fields of Takamatsu.
Haru sareba ki no konokure no yūzukuyo ōtsukanashi mo yamakage ni shite
When spring comes, the evening moon seen through the dark shade of the trees is dim and uncertain, lying as it does in the shadow of the hills.
Asagasumi haruhi no kure wa ko no ma yori utsurou tsuki o itsu to ka matamu
At dusk on a spring day, I wait and wonder when the moon will appear, moving along between the trees.
Haru no ame ni arikeru mono o tachikakuri imo ga iechi ni kono hi kurashitsu
It was only the spring rain, and yet I took shelter from it on the road to my beloved's house, and so spent this whole day.
Ima yukite kiku mono ni mo ga asukagawa harusame furite tagitsu se no oto o
If only I could go right now and hear it—the sound of the Asuka River's rapids, rushing and roaring with the spring rain.
Kasugano ni keburi tatsu miyu otomera shi haruno no uwagi tsumite nirashi mo
I see smoke rising on Kasuga Plain. It must be the maidens, boiling the starwort greens they have picked in the spring fields.
Kasugano no asaji ga ue ni omou dochi asobu kyō no hi wasuraeme ya mo
On the short grass of Kasuga Plain, together with friends dear to my heart, we played today—how could I ever forget this day?