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- Genji Monogatari
Ōkata no uki ni tsukete wa itoedomo
itsu ka kono yo o somukihatsubeki
I have turned from the world for the general wretchedness of it; but when shall I be wholly done with turning away?
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Nagame karu ama no sumika to miru kara ni
mazu shiotaruru Matsu ga Urashima
The moment I see it as the hut of one who gathers sea-grass in her brooding, my sleeves are wet with brine at this pine-clad island.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Arishi yo no nagori dani naki Urashima ni
tachiyoru nami no mezurashiki kana
On this island shore where not a trace of the old world remains, how rare a thing that a wave should come in at all.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Sore mo ga to kesa aketaru hatsuhana ni
otoranu kimi ga nioi o zo miru
In this first blossom opened only this morning—a thing one would wish to be—I see a glow that yields nothing to yours.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Toki narade kesa saku hana wa natsu no ame ni
shiorenikerashi niou hodo naku
This bloom that opened out of season this morning seems to have drooped in the summer rain before it could show any glow at all.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Ochikaeri e zo shinobarenu hototogisu
hono katarai shi yado no kakine ni
Turning back to the past, I cannot help remembering—cuckoo, at the hedge of this house where once we exchanged a word or two.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Hototogisu kototou koe wa sore naredo
ana obotsukana samidare no sora
The cuckoo's calling voice is surely the same one, and yet how uncertain everything is under this sky of long rains.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Tachibana no ka o natsukashimi hototogisu
hanachirusato o tazunete zo tou
Drawn by the fragrance of the orange blossom, the cuckoo has sought out and come calling on this village where the flowers fall.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Hitome naku aretaru yado wa tachibana no
hana koso noki no tsuma to narikere
At this neglected house where no one comes, it is the orange blossom alone that has given the eaves a reason to be visited.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Toribeyama moeshi keburi mo magau ya to
ama no shio yaku ura mi ni zo yuku
Wondering if it might be like the smoke that rose at Toribe, I go to look at the shore where the fisherfolk burn their salt.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Naki hito no wakare ya itodo hedataramu
keburi to narishi kumoi narade wa
Will our parting from the dead grow further still—unless it be in that sky where she rose as smoke?
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Mi wa kakute sasuraenu tomo kimi ga atari
saranu kagami no kage wa hanareji
Though this body of mine goes wandering off, the face in the mirror that stays beside you will never leave you.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Wakarete mo kage dani tomaru mono naraba
kagami o mite mo nagusametemashi
If even the reflection would stay behind after we part, then I might look in the mirror and be comforted.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Tsukikage no yadoreru sode wa sebaku tomo
tomete mo mibaya akanu hikari o
Narrow though this sleeve may be, where the moonlight has come to rest, I would keep it and go on gazing at a light I cannot tire of.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Yukimeguri tsui ni sumubeki tsukikage no
shibashi kumoramu sora na nagame so
The moon goes its round and will shine clear again at last; do not sit gazing at a sky where it is clouded for a while.
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu
Ause naki namida no kawa ni shizumishi ya
nagaruru mio no hajime narikemu
Was it my sinking into that river of tears, where no shallows brought us together, that began the channel down which I am carried now?
Genji Monogatari - Murasaki Shikibu