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- Manyoshu
Aru hito no ana kokoro na to omouramu aki no nagayo o nezame fusu nomi
Someone must be thinking, "How foolish!"—for through the long autumn night I only lie awake.
Aki no yo o nagashi to iedo tsumorinishi koi o tsukuseba mijikaku arikeri
They say the autumn night is long—but when I pour out all the love that has piled up, how short it proves to be!
Akitsuha ni nioeru koromo ware wa kiji kimi ni matsuraba yoru mo kiru gane
I will not wear this robe dyed the glowing colors of autumn leaves—if I give it to you, you may wear it even at night.
Tabi ni sura himo toku mono o koto shigemi marone zo waga suru nagaki kono yo o
Even on a journey one loosens one's sash to sleep—but gossip is so rife that I lie down in my clothes through this long night.
Shigure furu akatokizukuyo himo tokazu kouramu kimi to oramashi mono o
On this moonlit night before dawn, with autumn showers falling, I wish I could be with you, who must be longing for me with your sash still tied.
Momichiba ni oku shiratsuyu no irohani mo ideji to omoeba koto no shigekeku
Though I mean not to let my love show even a hint, like white dew on crimson leaves, how thick the gossip grows!
Ame fureba tagitsu yamagawa iwa ni fure kimi ga kudakamu kokoro wa motaji
Like the mountain stream that rushes when the rain falls and dashes itself against the rocks—I will never have a heart that shatters yours.
Hafurira ga iwau yashiro no momichiba mo shimenawa koete chiru to iu mono o
Even the autumn leaves of the shrine the priests so carefully tend, they say, scatter beyond the sacred ropes.
Waga sode ni arare tabashiru makikakushi ketazute aramu imo ga mimu tame
Hailstones go bouncing across my sleeve—I will wrap them up and keep them from melting, so my wife can see them.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Ashihiki no yama ka mo takaki makimuku no kishi no komatsu ni miyuki furikuru
Is it because the mountains are so high? Snow comes falling on the little pines on the cliffs of Makimuku.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Makimuku no hibara mo imada kumoineba komatsu ga ure yu awayuki nagaru
Though no clouds yet hang over the cypress forest of Makimuku, soft snow comes streaming down from the tips of the little pines.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Ashihiki no yamaji mo shirazu shirakashi no eda mo tōo ni yuki no furereba
I cannot find the mountain path, for snow has fallen so heavily that the branches of the white oaks bend beneath it.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Narayama no mine nao kirau ube shi koso magaki ga shita no yuki wa kezukere
The peaks of Mount Nara are still clouded—no wonder, then, that the snow beneath the hedge has not melted.
Koto furaba sode sae nurete tōrubeku furinamu yuki no sora ni ketsutsu
If it is going to fall, it should fall enough to soak even my sleeves through—yet the snow keeps melting away in the sky.
Yo o samumi asato o hiraki idemireba niwa mo hadara ni miyuki furitari
The night was so cold that when I opened the door at dawn and went out, the garden was dappled with fallen snow.
Yū sareba koromode samushi takamatsu no yama no ki goto ni yuki zo furitaru
When evening comes, my sleeves grow cold—on every tree on the mountain of Takamatsu, snow has fallen.