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- Manyoshu
Asagumori hi no iriyukeba mitatashi no shima ni oriite nagekitsuru kamo
The morning was overcast, and as the sun went into the clouds I went down into the garden where our prince used to stand, and sat there grieving.
Asahi teru shima no mikado ni ōhoshiku hitooto mo seneba maura ganashi mo
The morning sun shines on the Shima Palace, yet all is hushed and gloomy, with no sound of people, and my heart is full of sorrow.
Makibashira futoki kokoro wa arishikado kono aga kokoro shizumekanetsu mo
My heart was once as stout as a pillar of fine cypress, yet now I cannot calm this heart of mine.
Kekoromo o toki katamakete idemashishi uda no ōno wa omoyemu kamo
The wide plain of Uda, where our prince went out to hunt when the season for fur robes came round—how it will always come back to my mind!
Asahi teru sada no okabe ni naku tori no yonaki kaerau kono toshigoro o
Like the birds that cry on the slopes of Sada Hill where the morning sun shines, I have wept night after night all through this past year.
Hatakora ga yoru hiru to iwazu yuku michi o ware wa kotogoto miyaji ni zo suru
The road the farmers walk without regard for night or day—every bit of it I now make my road to the palace.
Shikitae no sode kaeshi kimi tamadare no ochino sugiyuku mata mo awame ya mo
You with whom I lay, our sleeves entwined, have passed beyond the fields of Ochi. Shall we ever meet again? Never again.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Asukagawa shigarami watashi sekamaseba nagaruru mizu mo nodo ni ka aramashi
Had I stretched a weir across the Asuka River to hold back its current, would even the rushing water have lingered, calm and still?
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Asukagawa asu dani mimu to omoe ya mo waga ōkimi no mina wasure senu
Is it because, like the name of the Asuka River, I think I may see her even tomorrow, that I can never forget the name of my great lady?
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Hisakata no ame shirashinuru kimi yue ni hitsuki mo shirazu koiwataru kamo
For you, my lord, who now rule the distant heavens, I go on longing, unaware of the passing of the days and months.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Haniyasu no ike no tsutsumi no komorinu no yukue o shirani toneri wa madou
Like the enclosed marsh within the banks of the Haniyasu pond, with no outlet, the attendants wander lost, not knowing where to turn.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Nakisawa no mori ni miwa sue inoredomo waga ōkimi wa takahi shirashinu
We set jars of sacred wine before the shrine at Nakisawa and prayed, yet our great lord has gone up to rule the high heavens.
Manyoshu - Princess Hinokuma
Furu yuki wa awa ni na furi so yonabari no ikai no oka no seki nasamaku ni
O falling snow, do not come down so heavily, for you would make a barrier on the hill of Ikai at Yonabari.
Manyoshu - Prince Hozumi
Ōkimi wa kami ni shi maseba amakumo no ioe ga shita ni kakuritamainu
Our great lord, being a god, has hidden himself away beneath the countless layers of the heavenly clouds.
Manyoshu - Okisome no Azumabito
Sasanami no shiga sazarenami shikushiku ni tsune ni to kimi ga omohoserikeru
Like the ripples at Shiga in Sasanami that lap the shore again and again, my lord wished again and again that things might always stay as they were.
Manyoshu - Okisome no Azumabito
Akiyama no momiji o shigemi madoinuru imo o motomemu yamaji shirazu mo
Because the colored leaves grow so thick on the autumn hills, my wife has lost her way among them; I would go to seek her, but I do not know the mountain path.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro