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- Ise Monogatari
Nagakaranu inochi no hodo ni wasururu wa
ika ni mijikaki kokoro naruramu
Within a life that cannot last very long, to be forgotten—how very short a heart that must be.
Okinasabi hito na togame so karigoromo
kyō bakari to zo tazu mo naku naru
Do not reproach me for seeming like an old man. Even the cranes cry as if to say that wearing my hunting robe and serving in attendance will be only for this day.
Oki no ite mi o yaku yori mo kanashiki wa
miyakoshimabe no wakare narikeri
More painful even than burning coals clinging to the body is the sorrow of parting with you by the shore of Miyakojima.
Namima yori miyuru kojima no hamabisashi
hisashiku narinu kimi ni aimide
From between the waves I see the eaves of a fisher’s hut on a small island. It has been a long time since I last met and saw you.
Ware mite mo hisashiku narinu Sumiyoshi no
kishi no himematsu ikuyo henuramu
Even I, seeing it, feel that many years have passed. As for the beautiful pine on the shore of Sumiyoshi, how many ages has it lived through?
Mutsumashi to kimi wa shiranami mizugaki no
hisashiki yo yori iwaisometeki
You may not know that I hold a feeling of closeness toward you, yet from long ages ago—like the white waves along this shore and the sacred fence around the shrine—I had already begun to celebrate and bless the reign of the emperor.
Tamakazura hau ki amata ni narinureba
taenu kokoro no ureshige mo nashi
Like vines that wind themselves around many trees, you have come to visit many women; so even if you say your feelings for me have never ceased, it brings me no joy at all.
Katami koso ima wa ata nare kore naku wa
wasururu toki mo aramashi mono o
The keepsake you left behind has now become something hateful; if only this did not exist, there might be a time when I could forget you.
Ōmi naru Tsukuma no matsuri toku senamu
tsurenaki hito no nabe no kazu mimu
In Ōmi, I wish the festival of Tsukuma to be held at once; I want to see how many pots that unfeeling woman will wear upon her head.
Uguisu no hana o nuu chō kasa mogana
nurumeru hito ni kisete kaesamu
How I wish for a hat woven from plum blossoms by the bush warbler. I would place it on the one soaked by the rain and send them home warm.
Uguisu no hana o nuu chō kasa wa ina
omoi o tsuke yo hoshite kaesamu
I have no need of a hat said to be sewn of blossoms by the bush warbler. Instead, place your thought upon me; I will dry my rain-soaked garments by fire and return your feeling.
Yamashiro no Ide no tamamizu te ni musubi
tanomishi kai mo naki yo narikeri
At Ide in Yamashiro, I cupped the clear, jewel-like water in my hands and made a vow, yet the trust I placed in you has come to nothing at all.
Toshi o hete sumikoshi sato o idete inaba
itodo Fukakusa no to ya narinamu
If I leave this village where I have lived through many years, will it become even more overgrown, like a field of deep grass?
No to naraba uzura to narite nakioramu
kari ni dani ya wa kimi wa kozaramu
If it should become a wild, overgrown field, I will turn into a quail and cry there in sorrow—would you not come, even if only for the hunt?
Omou koto iwade zo tada ni yaminubeki
ware to hitoshiki hito shi nakereba
What I hold in my heart, I will not speak of it, but let it come to an end as it is; for there is no one whose feelings are the same as mine.
Tsui ni yuku michi to wa kanete kikishikado
kinō kyō to wa omowazarishi o
I had long heard that death is the road we must all go in the end, yet I never thought it would come as soon as yesterday or today.