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- Kokin Wakashu
Natsu to aki to yukikau sora no kayoiji wa
katae wa suzushiki kaze ya fukuramu
Along the path in the sky where summer and autumn pass each other, does a cool wind perhaps blow from one side?
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Aki kinu to me ni wa sayaka ni mienedomo
kaze no oto ni zo odorokarenuru
Though I cannot clearly see with my eyes that autumn has come, it is in the sound of the wind that I am made aware of it.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
Kawakaze no suzushiku mo aru ka uchiyosuru
nami to tomo ni ya aki wa tatsuramu
How cool the river wind is—does autumn too arise together with the waves that surge upon the shore?
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Waga seko ga koromo no suso o fukikaeshi
uramezurashiki aki no hatsukaze
The first wind of autumn has begun to blow, turning back the hem of my beloved’s robe—how strangely it feels.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kinō koso sanae torishika itsu no ma ni
inaba soyogite akikaze no fuku
Only yesterday we planted the young rice seedlings, yet before we knew it, the rice leaves sway and the autumn wind has begun to blow.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Akikaze no fukinishi hi yori hisakata no
ama no kawara ni tatanu hi wa nashi
From the day the autumn wind first began to blow, there has not been a single day when I do not stand by the banks of the Heavenly River, waiting for you.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hisakata no ama no kawara no watashimori
kimi watarinaba kaji kakushite yo
O ferryman of the Heavenly River, if he comes across to me, please hide the oar so that he cannot return.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Amanogawa momiji o hashi ni wataseba ya
tanabatatsume no aki o shi mo matsu
Is it because the Heavenly River is crossed upon a bridge of crimson leaves that the Weaver Maiden waits especially for autumn to meet her lover?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Koikoite au yo wa koyoi ama no kawa
kiri tachiwatari akezu mo aranamu
After longing and longing, the night we meet is tonight; O Heavenly River, let the mist rise thick and never let the dawn come.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Amanogawa asase shiranami tadoritsutsu
watarihateneba ake zo shinikeru
Not knowing the shallows of the Heavenly River, I followed along the white-breaking waves, and before I could finish crossing, dawn had already come.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Chigirikemu kokoro zo tsuraki tanabata no
toshi ni hitotabi au wa au ka wa
How cruel is the heart that made such a vow: for Tanabata, to meet only once a year—can such a meeting truly be called meeting?
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Okikaze
Toshi goto ni au to wa suredo tanabata no
nuru yo no kazu zo sukunakarikeru
Though it is said that they meet year after year at Tanabata, the nights they lie together are indeed very few.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Tanabata ni kashitsuru ito no uchihaete
toshi no o nagaku koi ya wataramu
Like the threads once lent to the Weaver Maiden, drawn out and joined together, will this love continue on through the long years?
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Koyoi komu hito ni wa awaji tanabata no
hisashiki hodo ni machi mo koso sure
I will not meet the one who comes tonight, for like Tanabata, I might be made to wait for a very long time.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Ima wa tote wakaruru toki wa Amanogawa
wataranu saki ni sode zo hijinuru
Now that we must part, as I leave at the Heavenly River, even before I cross it, my sleeves are already wet with tears.
Kokin Wakashu - Minamoto no Muneyuki
Kyō yori wa ima komu toshi no kinō o zo
itsushika to nomi machiwatarubeki
From today on, must I go on longing only for the ‘yesterday’ of the coming year, waiting for it without end?
Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine