classic waka stream

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  • Shin Kokin Wakashu

Ariake no tsurenaku mieshi tsuki wa idenu yamahototogisu matsu yo nagara ni

The dawn moon that looked so unconcerned has gone from the sky, and the night is still a night of waiting for the mountain cuckoo.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Yoshitsune

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Waga kokoro ika ni se yo tote hototogisu kumoma no tsuki no kage ni nakuramu

What am I to do with my heart, that you should be crying there in the moonlight between the clouds, cuckoo?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Shunzei

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Hototogisu nakite irusa no yama no ha wa tsuki yue yori mo urameshiki kana

The cuckoo cried and went in behind the ridge; and that ridge is more hateful to me than ever it was for taking the moon.

Shin Kokin Wakashu

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Ariake no tsuki wa matanu ni idenuredo nao yama fukaki hototogisu kana

The dawn moon, which I was not waiting for, has come up; and the cuckoo is still deep in the mountains.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Taira no Chikamune

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Suginikeri Shinoda no mori no hototogisu taenu shizuku o sode ni nokoshite

It has passed by, the cuckoo of the wood at Shinoda, leaving on my sleeve a dripping that does not stop.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Yasusue

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Ika ni semu konu yo amata no hototogisu mataji to omoeba murasame no sora

What am I to do? So many nights it has not come; and just as I decide to wait no longer, the sky fills with a passing shower.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Ietaka

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Koe wa shite kumoji ni musebu hototogisu namida ya sosoku yoi no murasame

A voice, and nothing more: the cuckoo choking somewhere on the roads of cloud. Are those its tears, in this shower of early night?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Princess Shokushi

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Hototogisu nao utomarenu kokoro kana na ga naku sato no yoso no yūgure

Cuckoo, I still cannot bring myself to resent you, here at evening outside the village where you are calling.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kintsune

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Kikazu tomo koko o se ni semu hototogisu Yamada no hara no sugi no muradachi

Even if I never hear it, I shall make this my place of hope: the stand of cedars on the plain at Yamada, cuckoo.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - The Monk Saigyo

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Hototogisu fukaki mine yori idenikeri toyama no suso ni koe no ochikuru

The cuckoo has come out of the high peaks: its voice comes down to the foot of the nearer hills.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - The Monk Saigyo

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Ozasa fuku shizu no maroya no kari no to o akegata ni naku hototogisu kana

The rough round hut is thatched with dwarf bamboo, and the cuckoo, crying at daybreak, opens its makeshift door.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Sanesada

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Uchishimeri ayame zo kaoru hototogisu naku ya satsuki no ame no yūgure

The damp draws the scent from the sweet flag, and the cuckoo calls: an evening of rain in the fifth month.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Yoshitsune

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Kyō wa mata ayame no ne sae kakesoete midare zo masaru sode no shiratama

Today again the sweet flag's root is hung up, and my weeping with it, and the tangle only worsens: white jewels on my sleeve.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Shunzei

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Akanaku ni chirinishi hana no iroiro wa nokorinikeri na kimi ga tamoto ni

The flowers fell before anyone had tired of them; and all their colours, I find, have stayed behind on your sleeve.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Minamoto no Tsunenobu

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Nabete yo no uki ni nagaruru ayamegusa kyō made kakaru ne wa ikaga miru

The sweet flag drifts on the general sorrow of the world; and this root, that has held on until today, how does it look to you?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Joto Mon-in no Koshosho

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Nanigoto to ayame wa wakade kyō mo nao tamoto ni amaru ne koso taesene

I cannot tell what it is about; and today too the roots overflow my sleeve, and my weeping does not stop.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Murasaki Shikibu

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