Waka Poems in Shin Kokin Wakashu (English Translation & Romaji)

Shizuka naru akatsuki goto ni miwataseba mada fukaki yo no yume zo kanashiki

At each quiet dawn, as I look out over the world, how sad it is that they are still dreaming in the depths of night.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Princess Shokushi

How could I pledge where we shall meet again, when I do not even know where this sorrowful self will go?

Only when I turned over the lining of the robe where the jewel had been fastened did I come to know how foolish my heart had been.

Is the dream the dream, or is waking life the dream? I cannot tell them apart—in what world will I ever wake?

More than on other days, are you sending your thoughts far to the west, taking today's smoke as your guide?

Today I am lost in tears all the more, as dusk falls on the western hills and I gaze, deep in thought, at the light of the setting sun.

The moonlight I trusted as my guide to the west—how futile its promise proved, as empty as the sky.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Taikenmon-in no Horikawa

The moon that parted the clouds and passed without stopping must have seen, there in the sky, that you were not waiting.

Guided by the light of the moon we once watched together, is it tonight that you go forth into the west?

Now that the darkness has cleared, the moon shining in the sky of my heart—is it drawing near the western hills?