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- Manyoshu
Saoshika no kokoro aiomou akihagi no shigure no furu ni chiraku shi oshi mo
How sad that the autumn bush clover, which shares its heart with the stag, should scatter in the falling showers.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Yū sareba nobe no akihagi urawakami tsuyu ni zo karuru aki machikate ni
When evening comes, the autumn bush clover in the fields, still so young and tender, withers in the dew, unable to wait for autumn's height.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Makuzuhara nabiku akikaze fuku goto ni ada no ōno no hagi no hana chiru
Each time the autumn wind blows, bending the kudzu fields, the bush clover blossoms on the wide plain of Ada scatter.
Karigane no kinakamu hi made mitsutsu aramu kono hagihara ni ame na furi so ne
I want to keep gazing at this field of bush clover until the day the wild geese come crying—O rain, please do not fall!
Okuyama ni sumu to iu shika no yoi sarazu tsumadou hagi no chiramaku oshi mo
The bush clover that the stag of the deep mountains, so they say, visits every evening as his wife—how sad that it must scatter!
Shiratsuyu no okamaku oshimi akihagi o ori nomi orite oki ya karasamu
Grieving that the white dew will settle on them, I break off sprig after sprig of autumn bush clover—will I only leave them to wither?
Akita karu kariio no yadori niou made sakeru akihagi miredo akanu ka mo
The autumn bush clover blooms so brightly that the makeshift hut where we lodge to reap the autumn fields glows with color—I can gaze and never tire.
Aga koromo sureru ni wa arazu takamatsu no nobe yukishikaba hagi no sureru zo
My robe was not rub-dyed by my own hand—I walked through the fields of Takamatsu, and it was the bush clover that dyed it.
Kono yūbe akikaze fukinu shiratsuyu ni arasou hagi no asu sakamu mimu
This evening the autumn wind has begun to blow. I will see tomorrow the bush clover, vying with the white dew, burst into bloom.
Akikaze wa suzushiku narinu uma namete iza no ni yukana hagi no hana mi ni
The autumn wind has grown cool. Come, let us ride out side by side to the fields to see the bush clover in bloom!
Asagao wa asatsuyu oite saku to iedo yūkage ni koso sakimasarikere
They say the asagao blooms bearing the morning dew—but it is in the evening light that it blooms most beautifully.
Haru sareba kasumigakurite miezu arishi akihagi sakinu orite kazasamu
The bush clover, hidden in the haze and unseen in spring, has now bloomed in autumn. I will break a sprig and wear it in my hair.
Sanukata no nobe no akihagi toki nareba ima sakari nari orite kazasamu
The autumn bush clover in the fields of Sanukata, now that its season has come, is at its height. I will break a sprig and wear it in my hair.
Kotosara ni koromo wa suraji ominaeshi sakino no hagi ni nioite oramu
I will not trouble to rub-dye my robe—I will simply stay among the bush clover of Saki Plain and let its color steep into me.
Akikaze wa toku toku fukiko hagi no hana chiramaku oshimi kioitatamu mimu
O autumn wind, come blowing swiftly, swiftly! I want to see the bush clover blossoms, loath to scatter, standing firm against you.
Waga yado no hagi no ure nagashi akikaze no fukinamu toki ni sakamu to omoite
The tips of the bush clover at my home have grown long—perhaps it means to bloom when the autumn wind begins to blow.