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- Manyoshu
Naniwagata shiohi na ari so ne shizuminishi imo ga sugata o mimaku kurushi mo
O Naniwa bay, do not let your tide go out, for it pains me to see the form of the maiden who sank beneath your waters.
Manyoshu - Kawabe no Miyahito
Takamato no nobe no akihagi itazura ni saki ka chiruramu miru hito nashi ni
Does the autumn bush clover in the fields of Takamato bloom and scatter all in vain now, with no one there to see it?
Manyoshu - Kasa no Kanamura
Mikasayama nobe yuku michi wa kokidaku mo shigeku aretaru ka hisa ni aranaku ni
How thick with weeds and wild the path through the fields of Mount Mikasa has grown, though so little time has passed.
Manyoshu - Kasa no Kanamura
Takamato no nobe no akihagi na chiri so ne kimi ga katami ni mitsutsu shinowamu
O autumn bush clover in the fields of Takamato, do not scatter—I will gaze on you as a keepsake of my lord and remember him.
Mikasayama nobe yu yuku michi kokidaku mo arenikeru kamo hisa ni aranaku ni
How utterly the path across the fields of Mount Mikasa has fallen to ruin, though so little time has passed.
Ōkimi wa kami ni shi maseba amakumo no ikazuchi no ue ni iori seru kamo
Because our great sovereign is a god, he has built a lodging and dwells high above the thunder, among the clouds of heaven.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Ina to iedo shiuru Shii no ga shiigatari kono koro kikazute are koinikeri
Though I told her "enough," old Shii kept pressing her stories on me—yet having not heard them lately, I find I have come to miss them.
Manyoshu - Empress Jito
Ina to iedo katare katare to norase koso Shii i wa mōse shiigatari to noru
Though I say "no more," it is only because you command me, "Tell on, tell on," that I, Shii, speak—and yet you call them pressing tales!
Manyoshu - Old Woman Shii
Ōmiya no uchi made kikoyu abiki su to ago totonouru ama no yobigoe
It carries even into the palace—the calling voices of the fishermen, marshaling their crews to haul in the nets.
Manyoshu - Naga no Okimaro
Hisakata no ame yuku tsuki o ami ni sashi waga ōkimi wa kinugasa ni seri
Catching in his net the moon that journeys across the sky, our great lord has made it the silk canopy held above him.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Ōkimi wa kami ni shi maseba maki no tatsu arayamanaka ni umi o nasu kamo
Because our great lord is a god, he creates a sea in the midst of wild mountains where the stately trees stand.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Taki no ue no Mifune no yama ni iru kumo no tsune ni aramu to waga omowanaku ni
Like the cloud that rests on Mount Mifune above the rapids—yet I do not think that I shall remain forever as it does.
Manyoshu - Prince Yuge
Ōkimi wa chitose ni masamu shirakumo mo Mifune no yama ni tayuru hi arame ya
Our lord will live a thousand years. And the white clouds, too—could there ever come a day when they vanish from Mount Mifune?
Manyoshu - Prince Kasuga
Miyoshino no Mifune no yama ni tatsu kumo no tsune ni aramu to waga omowanaku ni
Like the clouds that rise on Mount Mifune in fair Yoshino—yet I do not think that I shall remain forever.
Kikishi goto makoto tōtoku kusushiku mo kamusabi oru ka kore no Mizushima
Just as I had heard, how truly sacred and wondrous, how godlike it stands—this island, Mizushima.
Manyoshu - Prince Nagata
Ashikita no Nosaka no ura yu funade shite Mizushima ni yukamu nami tatsu na yume
Setting out by boat from the bay of Nosaka in Ashikita, I will go to Mizushima—waves, never rise!
Manyoshu - Prince Nagata