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- Kokin Wakashu
Ko no ma yori morikuru tsuki no kage mireba
kokorozukushi no aki wa kinikeri
As I look at the moonlight filtering through the trees, I feel that autumn—the season that stirs the heart with many thoughts—has come.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ōkata no aki kuru kara ni waga mi koso
kanashiki mono to omoi shirinure
As autumn comes upon everything around me, I come to realize that it is I myself who am truly sorrowful.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Waga tame ni kuru aki ni shi mo aranaku ni
mushi no ne kikeba mazu zo kanashiki
Autumn does not come for me alone, yet when I hear the voices of the insects, my heart at once becomes sorrowful.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mono goto ni aki zo kanashiki momijitsutsu
utsuroiyuku o kagiri to omoeba
In everything, autumn is a sorrowful season, for as the leaves turn red and change, we feel that it marks their end.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hitori nuru toko wa kusaba ni aranedomo
aki kuru yoi wa tsuyukekarikeri
Though the bed where I sleep alone is not made of grass and leaves, on autumn nights it feels as though it is damp with dew.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Itsu wa to wa toki wa wakanedo aki no yo zo
mono omou koto no kagiri narikeru
Though there is no fixed time when one does not fall into thought, it is on autumn nights that such reflections reach their utmost depth.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kaku bakari oshi to omou yo o itazura ni
nete akasuramu hito sae zo uki
On a night I cherish so deeply, those who sleep it away in vain until morning seem truly disagreeable.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Shirakumo no hane uchikawashi tobu kari no
kazu sae miyuru aki no yo no tsuki
On an autumn night, the moon shines so brightly that even the number of wild geese flying with beating wings across the white clouds can be clearly seen.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Sayonaka to yo wa fukenurashi kari ga ne no
kikoyuru sora ni tsuki wataru miyu
It must be midnight, for the night has deepened; in the sky where the cries of wild geese are heard, the moon can be seen moving across.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tsuki mireba chiji ni mono koso kanashikere
waga mi hitotsu no aki ni wa aranedo
When I look upon the moon, sorrow rises in countless ways, though this autumn does not belong to me alone.
Kokin Wakashu - Oe no Chisato
Hisakata no tsuki no katsura mo aki wa nao
momiji sureba ya terimasaruramu
Even the cassia tree said to be in the moon—perhaps because it turns red in autumn—the moonlight seems to shine all the more brightly.
Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine
Aki no yo no tsuki no hikari shi akareba
Kurabu no yama mo koenu beranari
On an autumn night, the moonlight is so bright that even the dark mountain of Kurabu seems as though it could be crossed.
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Motokata
Kirigirisu itaku na naki so aki no yo no
nagaki omoi wa ware zo masareru
Cricket, do not cry so sorrowfully; though the autumn night is long, the thoughts I bear are longer still.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Tadanobu
Aki no yo no akuru mo shirazu naku mushi wa
waga goto mono ya kanashikaruramu
The insects that cry on through the autumn night, unaware even of the coming dawn—are they, like me, filled with sorrow?
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
Akihagi mo irozukinureba kirigirisu
waga nenu goto ya yoru wa kanashiki
Now that the bush clover has taken on autumn colors, are the crickets too, like me who cannot sleep, filled with sorrow through the night?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Aki no yo wa tsuyu koso koto ni samukarashi
kusamura goto ni mushi no wabureba
On autumn nights, the dew seems especially cold; hearing the insects lamenting in every clump of grass, it feels so.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet