- Top
- -
- Manyoshu
Okitsu nami henami tatsu tomo waga seko ga mifune no tomari nami tatame ya mo
Though waves rise offshore and along the coast, could waves ever rise where your ship, my lord, lies at anchor? Never.
Manyoshu - Master Ishikawa
Hayahito no Satsuma no seto o kumoi nasu tōku mo ware wa kyō mitsuru kamo
The straits of Satsuma, land of the Hayato—far off as the distant clouds, yet today I have seen them.
Manyoshu - Prince Nagata
Tamamo karu Minume o sugite natsukusa no Nushima ga saki ni fune chikazukinu
Passing Minume, where they reap the fine seaweed, our boat has drawn near the cape of Nushima, lush with summer grass.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Awaji no Nushima ga saki no hamakaze ni imo ga musubishi himo fukikaesu
In the sea wind at Cape Nushima on Awaji, the cord of my robe that my wife tied for me flutters and blows back.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Aratae no Fujie no ura ni suzuki tsuru ama to ka miramu tabi yuku ware o
Do they take me for a fisherman catching sea bass in the bay of Fujie—I who am only passing through on my journey?
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Inabino mo yukisugikate ni omoereba kokoro kōshiki Kako no shima miyu
Even the plain of Inabi I could hardly bear to pass by—and as I lingered so, the beloved island of Kako came into view.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Tomoshibi no Akashi ōto ni iramu hi ya kogiwakarenamu ie no atari mizu
On the day we enter the great strait of Akashi, shall we row off and leave it all behind, without a glimpse of the place where my home lies?
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Amazakaru hina no nagachi yu koikureba Akashi no to yori Yamatoshima miyu
Coming home along the long road from the far-off provinces, yearning all the way, I see from the strait of Akashi the mountains of Yamato rising like an island.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Kehi no umi no niwa yoku arashi karikomo no midarete izu miyu ama no tsuribune
The waters of Kehi must be calm today—scattered like cut rushes, I see them putting out to sea, the fishermen's boats.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Hito kogazu araku mo shirushi kazuki suru oshi to takabe to fune no ue ni sumu
It is plain that no one rows here anymore: mandarin ducks and teal, diving for food, have made their home on the boats.
Manyoshu - Kamo no Taruhito
Itsu no ma mo kamusabikeru ka Kaguyama no hokosugi no moto ni koke musu made ni
When did it grow so hallowed with age? On Mount Kagu, moss has grown thick at the roots of the spear-straight cedars.
Manyoshu - Kamo no Taruhito
Yatsuriyama kodachi mo miezu furimagau yuki ni sawakeru ashita tanoshi mo
The snow whirls down so thick that the trees on Mount Yatsuri vanish, and through it we come bustling to the palace—how joyful this morning is!
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Uma na itaku uchite na yuki so ke narabete mite mo waga yuku Shiga ni aranaku ni
Don't whip the horse so hard and hurry on—this is not Shiga, a place I can pass through gazing day after day.
Manyoshu - Osakabe no Tarumaro
Mononofu no yaso Ujikawa no ajirogi ni isayou nami no yukue shirazu mo
On the Uji River the waves linger and eddy at the stakes of the fish weirs—and where they go from there, no one can know.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Kurushiku mo furikuru ame ka Miwa no saki Sano no watari ni ie mo aranaku ni
How miserable, this rain pouring down—at the Sano crossing by Cape Miwa, there is not even a house for shelter.
Manyoshu - Naga no Okimaro
Ōmi no umi yūnami chidori na ga nakeba kokoro mo shino ni inishie omooyu
Plovers over the evening waves of the lake of Ōmi, when you cry, my heart sinks and bends, and the days of long ago rise up in my mind.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro