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- Ise Monogatari
Ōkata wa tsuki o mo medeji kore zo kono
tsumoreba hito no oi to naru mono
In most cases I will not admire the beautiful moon. For it is this very moon that, as its nights accumulate and become years, finally becomes the old age of human life.
Hito shirezu ware koi shinaba ajikinaku
izure no kami ni naki na ōseru
If I were to die of love without anyone knowing the truth, it would be pointless indeed. To which god would people then wrongly attribute the blame and give a false reputation?
Sakurabana kyō koso kaku mo niou tomo
ana tanomigata asu no yo no koto
Though the cherry blossoms bloom with such beauty today, who can rely on their being so tomorrow night?
Oshimedomo haru no kagiri no kyō no hi no
yūgure ni sae narinikeru kana
Though I regret the passing of time, the day that marks the end of spring has come at last, even to its evening.
Ashibe kogu tananashi obune o ikuso tabi
yukikaeruramu shiru hito mo nami
That small undecked boat rowing along the reed-lined shore must be going back and forth countless times, yet there is no one who knows of it.
Ōna ōna omoi wa subeshi nazoe naku
takaki iyashiki kurushikarikeri
You may fall in love if you must, yet why should it be with no equality between you? Love between one of high rank and one of low rank is a painful thing indeed.
Aki no yo wa haruhi wasururu mono nare ya
kasumi ni kiri ya chie masaruramu
In the long nights of autumn, do people forget the gentle days of spring? Does the autumn mist surpass the spring haze a thousandfold?
Chiji no aki hitotsu no haru ni mukawame ya
momiji mo hana mo tomo ni koso chire
Could even a thousand autumns compare with a single spring? Yet both the crimson autumn leaves and the blossoms must fall all the same.
Hikoboshi ni koi wa masarinu ama no kawa
hedatsuru seki o ima wa yamete yo
My longing for you is greater than that of Hikoboshi, who meets Orihime only once a year. Please remove now the barrier that stands between us like the Heavenly River.
Aki kakete iishi nagara mo aranaku ni
ko no ha furishiku e ni koso arikere
Though I spoke of autumn, I never meant the word as a play on ‘to grow weary.’ Yet in the end our bond has proved shallow, like an inlet where fallen leaves gather and make the water shallow.
Sakurabana chirikai kumore oiraku no
komu to iu naru michi magau ga ni
Cherry blossoms, scatter in confusion and cloud the air. Let the road by which old age is said to come lose its way.
Waga tanomu kimi ga tame ni to oru hana wa
toki shi mo wakanu mono ni zo arikeru
The flowers I break for the lord in whom I place my trust are such that they do not know the season; they are always in bloom.
Mizu mo arazu mi mo senu hito no koishiku wa
ayanaku kyō ya nagame kurasamu
It is not that I did not see you, yet neither did I clearly see you. Still I long for you, and today perhaps I will spend the whole day gazing in that direction for no reason.
Shiru shiranu nani ka ayanaku wakite iwamu
omoi nomi koso shirube narikere
Known or unknown—why should one make such needless distinctions? When people come to know each other and meet, it is feeling alone that serves as the guide.
Wasuregusa ouru nobe to wa miruramedo
ko wa shinobu nari nochi mo tanomamu
You may think it is a field overgrown with forget-me-not grass, yet it is the grass of hidden love. I will continue to rely upon you from now on as well.
Saku hana no shita ni kakururu hito o ōmi
arishi ni masaru fuji no kage kamo
Because many people gather and hide beneath the shade of the blossoms in full bloom, the shade of the wisteria seems even finer than before.