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- Manyoshu
Haru sareba unohana gutashi waga koeshi imo ga kakima wa arenikeru ka mo
The gap in my beloved's hedge, where I used to cross in spring, trampling the deutzia blossoms, has now fallen into ruin.
Ume no hana sakichiru sono ni ware yukamu kimi ga tsukai o katamachigateri
I will go to the garden where the plum blossoms bloom and scatter, while I wait and wait for a messenger from you.
Fujinami no saku haru no no ni hau kuzu no shita yoshi koiba hisashiku mo aramu
Like the kudzu vines that creep beneath the spring fields where the wisteria blooms in waves, if I love only secretly within my heart, it will be a long, long time.
Haru no no ni kasumi tanabiki saku hana no kaku naru made ni awanu kimi ka mo
The haze trails over the spring fields and the flowers are in bloom—yet even until now you have not come to meet me.
Waga seko ni aga kouraku wa okuyama no ashibi no hana no ima sakari nari
The love I feel for you is like the ashibi blossoms deep in the mountains—now at the height of their bloom.
Ume no hana shidariyanagi ni orimajie hana ni sonaeba kimi ni awamu ka mo
If I break plum blossoms and weave them in with the drooping willow, offering them as flowers, might I then be able to meet you?
Ominaeshi sakino ni ouru shiratsutsuji shiranu koto mochi iwaeshi waga se
Like the white azaleas that grow on the fields of Saki, for things you knew nothing of, people have spread talk about you, my dear.
Ume no hana ware wa chirasaji aoniyoshi nara naru hito mo kitsutsu miru gane
I will not let the plum blossoms fall—so that the one who lives in Nara, the city of fine blue earth, may come and see them again and again.
Kaku shi araba nani ka uekemu yamabuki no yamu toki mo naku kouraku omoeba
If it was to be like this, why did I ever plant the yamabuki? When I think of how I long for you, never ceasing for a moment.
Haru sareba mikusa no ue ni oku shimo no ketsutsu mo are wa koiwataru ka mo
Like the frost that settles on the water grasses when spring comes and melts away, I feel myself fading, yet I go on loving still.
Harugasumi yama ni tanabiki ōhoshiku imo o aimite nochi koimu ka mo
As the spring haze trails dim over the hills, I have seen my beloved only faintly—and afterward, I am sure, I will long for her all the more.
Harugasumi tachinishi hi yori kyō made ni aga koi yamazu moto no shigekeba
From the day the spring haze first rose until today, my longing has never ceased, for its roots grow thick and deep.
Sanitsurau imo o omou to kasumi tatsu haruhi mo kure ni koiwataru ka mo
Thinking of my rosy-cheeked beloved, I go on longing so that even the spring day where haze rises grows dark to me.
Tamakiharu waga yama no ue ni tatsu kasumi tatsu tomo u tomo kimi ga manimani
Like the haze that rises over the hill of my home, whether I rise or sit, it shall all be just as you wish.
Miwataseba kasuga no nobe ni tatsu kasumi mimaku no hoshiki kimi ga sugata ka
Like the haze I see rising over the fields of Kasuga when I look out, how I long to gaze upon your form!
Koitsutsu mo kyō wa kurashitsu kasumi tatsu asu no haruhi o ika ni kurasamu
Longing for you, I have somehow lived through today—but how shall I get through tomorrow's long spring day, when the haze will rise?