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- Gosen Wakashu
Kyō yori wa ama no kawara wa asenanan sokoi to mo naku tada watarinan
From today, let the riverbed of Heaven grow shallow—so that, with no depth left at all, I may simply wade across.
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Ama no kawa nagarete kouru tanabata no namida narurashi aki no shiratsuyu
These must be the tears of the Weaver Maid, who has longed as long as the River of Heaven flows—this white dew of autumn.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ama no kawa seze no shiranami takakeredo tada watarikinu matsu ni kurushimi
The white waves of the River of Heaven stand high on every shallow, yet I came straight across, so pained was I by waiting.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Aki kureba kawagiri wataru ama no kawa kawakami mitsutsu kouru hi no ōki
When autumn comes, river mist spreads over the River of Heaven, and how many are the days I spend gazing upstream, longing for you.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ama no kawa koishiki se ni zo watarinuru tagitsu namida ni sode wa nuretsutsu
Across the River of Heaven, through the shallows of longing, I have made my way, my sleeves soaked all the while by rushing tears.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tanabata no toshi to wa iwaji ama no kawa kumo tachiwatari iza midarenan
I will not say "once a year," as the Weaver Maid must—let clouds spread over the River of Heaven, and come, let us give ourselves up to love.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Aki no yo no akanu wakare o tanabata wa tatenuki ni koso omou beranare
The Weaver Maid, it seems, turns over the parting of the autumn night that leaves her still wanting, back and forth like the warp and weft of her loom.
Gosen Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Tanabata no kaeru ashita no ama no kawa fune mo kayowanu nami mo tatanan
On the morning the Weaver Maid must return, let waves rise on the River of Heaven so high that no boat can pass.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Asato akete nagame ya suran tanabata wa akanu wakare no sora o koitsutsu
Has the Weaver Maid opened her door at dawn to gaze out, lost in thought, longing for the sky where she parted, still wanting more?
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Akikaze no fukeba sasuga ni wabishiki wa yo no kotowari to omou mono kara
When the autumn wind blows, I feel desolate even so—though I tell myself it is only the way of the world.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Matsumushi no hatsukoe sasou akikaze wa Otowayama yori fukisomenikeri
The autumn wind that calls forth the pine cricket's first song, it seems, began to blow from Mount Otowa.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yuku hotaru kumo no ue made inubeku wa akikaze fuku to kari ni tsugekose
Firefly, rising away—if you can fly as high as the clouds, tell the wild geese that the autumn wind is blowing here.
Gosen Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
Akikaze no kusaba soyogite fuku nae ni honoka ni shitsuru higurashi no koe
As the autumn wind blows, rustling the grass and leaves, faintly there comes the voice of the evening cicada.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Higurashi no koe kiku yama no chikakere ya nakitsuru nae ni irihi sasuran
Is it because the mountain where I hear the evening cicadas is so near, that the setting sun shines in just as they cry?
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Higurashi no koe kiku kara ni matsumushi no na ni nomi hito o omou koro kana
As soon as I hear the evening cicadas, dusk falls, and like the pine cricket, whose very name means waiting, I spend these days only waiting and thinking of you.
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kokoro arite naki mo shitsuru ka higurashi no izure mo mono no akite ukereba
Did the evening cicada cry because it has a heart? For all things alike, when autumn comes, grow weary and sorrowful.
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki