- Top
- -
- Manyoshu
Musasabi wa konure motomu to ashihiki no yama no satsuo ni ainikeru kamo
The flying squirrel, seeking the highest branches, ran instead into a hunter of the mountains.
Manyoshu - Prince Shiki
Waga seko ga furue no sato no Asuka ni wa chidori naku nari tsuma machikanete
In Asuka, the village where my friend's old house still stands, I hear the plovers crying, weary of waiting for their mates.
Manyoshu - Prince Nagaya
Hito mizu wa waga sode mochite kakusamu o yaketsutsu ka aramu kizute kinikeri
If no one were looking, I would cover it with my sleeve—is it still burning? But I have come without my robe.
Manyoshu - Lady Abe
Tabi ni shite mono kōshiki ni yamashita no ake no sohobune oki o kogu miyu
On my journey, filled with a vague longing, I see the vermilion ship from beneath the mountain rowing out to sea.
Manyoshu - Takechi no Kurohito
Sakurada e tazu nakiwataru Ayuchigata shio hinikerashi tazu nakiwataru
Toward Sakurada the cranes fly crying—the tide must be out on the flats of Ayuchi—the cranes fly crying overhead.
Manyoshu - Takechi no Kurohito
Shihatsuyama uchikoe mireba Kasanui no shima kogikakuru tananashi obune
Crossing over Mount Shihatsu and looking out, I see a little boat without side-boards rowing away to hide behind the island of Kasanui.
Manyoshu - Takechi no Kurohito
Iso no saki kogitami yukeba Ōmi no umi yaso no minato ni tazu sawa ni naku
As we row around the rocky cape on the lake of Ōmi, cranes are crying in great numbers at harbor after harbor.
Manyoshu - Takechi no Kurohito
Waga fune wa Hira no minato ni kogihatemu okie na sakari sayo fukenikeri
Let us row my boat into the harbor of Hira and moor there. Do not stray out toward the open water—the night has grown late.
Manyoshu - Takechi no Kurohito
Izuku ni ka ware wa yadoramu Takashima no Kachino no hara ni kono hi kurenaba
Where shall I find lodging for the night, if this day ends while I am on the plain of Kachino in Takashima?
Manyoshu - Takechi no Kurohito
Imo mo are mo hitotsu nare kamo Mikawa naru Futami no michi yu wakarekanetsuru
Is it because my wife and I are one that here on the forking road of Futami in Mikawa we find we cannot part?
Manyoshu - Takechi no Kurohito
Haya kite mo mitemashi mono o Yamashiro no Taka no tsukimura chirinikeru kamo
If only I had come sooner and seen them—the zelkova grove at Taka in Yamashiro has already scattered its leaves.
Manyoshu - Takechi no Kurohito
Shika no ama wa me kari shio yaki itoma nami kushige no ogushi tori mo minaku ni
The fisher girls of Shika are so busy cutting seaweed and boiling salt that they never even take out the little combs in their comb boxes.
Manyoshu - Ishikawa no Kimiko
Wagimoko ni Inano wa misetsu Nasukiyama Tsuno no matsubara itsu ka shimesamu
I have shown my wife the plain of Ina; when shall I show her Mount Nasuki and the pine grove of Tsuno?
Manyoshu - Takechi no Kurohito
Iza kodomo Yamato e hayaku shirasuge no Mano no harihara taorite yukamu
Come, everyone, let us hurry home to Yamato—breaking off branches in the alder grove of Mano, where the white sedges grow, to take with us.
Manyoshu - Takechi no Kurohito
Shirasuge no Mano no harihara yukusa kusa kimi koso mirame Mano no harihara
The alder grove of Mano, where the white sedges grow—you may see it on your journeys there and back, but for me, this grove of Mano...
Tsunosahau Iware mo sugizu Hatsuseyama itsu ka mo koemu yo wa fukenitsutsu
I have not even passed Iware yet—when will I cross the mountains of Hatsuse? And all the while the night grows later.
Manyoshu - Kasuga no Oyu