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- Gosen Wakashu
Yukikaeru yasoujibito no tamakazura kakete zo tanomu aoi chō na o
The crowds of people coming and going wear garlands of hollyhock, and I too hang my hopes on that name, aoi, "the day we meet."
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yūdasuki kakete mo iu na adabito no aoi chō na wa misogi ni zo seshi
Do not say such things, not even in passing, as one hangs a sacred sash. That name, aoi, "the day we meet," from a fickle man—I have washed it away in purification.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kono goro wa samidare chikami hototogisu omoimidarete nakanu hi zo naki
These days, with the early summer rains drawing near, the cuckoo, its thoughts in disarray, does not let a single day pass without singing.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Matsu hito wa tare naranaku ni hototogisu omoi no hoka ni nakaba ukaran
The one who waits for you is none other than I, little cuckoo—if you were to sing somewhere I never expected, how bitter it would be.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Nioitsutsu chirinishi hana zo omōyuru natsu wa midori no ha nomi shigereba
I find myself recalling the flowers that glowed so fair and then fell—for in summer only green leaves grow thick upon the trees.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Samidare ni haru no miyabito kuru toki wa hototogisu o ya uguisu ni sen
When the people of the Spring Palace come to call in the rains of May, shall we take the cuckoo and call it the warbler?
Gosen Wakashu - Ōkasuga no Moronori
Mijikayo no fukeyuku mama ni shirotae no mine no matsukaze fuku ka to zo kiku
As the short summer night grows deeper, I listen to the koto and hear it as the wind blowing through the pines on the white peak.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Ashihiki no yamashitamizu wa yukikayoi koto no ne ni sae nagaru beranari
The water flowing beneath the mountain trees comes and goes, and seems to flow even into the notes of the koto.
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Natsu no yo wa au na nomi shite shikitae no chiri harau ma ni ake zo shinikeru
On a summer night there is only the name of having met—for while I was sweeping the dust from the bedding, the dawn came.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Takatsune
Yume yori mo hakanaki mono wa natsu no yo no akatsukigata no wakare narikeri
What is more fleeting even than a dream? It is the parting at daybreak after a summer night.
Gosen Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine
Yoso nagara omoishi yori mo natsu no yo no mihatenu yume zo hakanakari keru
More fleeting than the days when I longed for you from afar is the dream of a summer night that ends before I can finish it.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Futakoe to kiku to wa nashi ni hototogisu yobukaku me o mo samashitsuru kana
Though I heard no more than a note or two, the cuckoo has woken me deep in the night.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Au to mishi yume ni naraite natsu no hi no kuregataki o mo nagekitsuru kana
Having grown used to dreaming that we met, I now find myself lamenting even how slowly the summer day draws to its close.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Yasukuni
Utomaruru kokoro shi nakuba hototogisu akanu wakare ni kesa wa kenamashi
If I did not fear being thought tiresome, little cuckoo, I would have faded away this morning in a parting that left me wanting more.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Orihaete ne o nomi zo naku hototogisu shigeki nageki no eda goto ni ite
On and on the cuckoo cries, nothing but crying, perched on every branch of the thick-grown tree of grief.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hototogisu kite wa tabi to ya nakiwataru ware wa wakare no oshiki miyako o
Little cuckoo, do you come here and call it a mere journey, singing as you pass over? For me it is the capital, and I grieve to leave it.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet