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- Kokin Wakashu
Chiranedomo kanete zo oshiki momijiba wa
ima wa kagiri no iro to mitsureba
Though they have not yet fallen, the autumn leaves are already to be regretted, for I see their colors as those that exist only for this fleeting moment.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ta ga tame no nishiki nareba ka akigiri no
Saho no yamabe o tachikakusuramu
For whose sake is it that the autumn mist rises and hides the slopes of Mount Saho, as if concealing a brocade?
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Sahoyama no hahaso no iro wa usukeredo
aki wa fukaku mo narinikeru kana
Though the color of the hahaso trees on Mount Saho is pale, autumn has nevertheless deepened.
Kokin Wakashu - Sakanoue no Koreyuki
Ueshi ueba aki naki toki ya sakazaramu
hana koso chirame ne sae kareme ya
If it is firmly planted, will it not bloom when autumn comes? Though the flowers may fall, the roots themselves will not wither.
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
Hisakata no kumo no ue nite miru kiku wa
amatsuboshi to zo ayamatarekeru
The chrysanthemums seen above the clouds are mistaken for the stars of heaven.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
Tsuyu nagara orite kazasamu kiku no hana
oisenu aki no hisashikarubeku
I shall pluck and wear the chrysanthemum still covered with dew, so that this autumn, untouched by age, may long endure.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Ueshi toki hana machidō ni arishi kiku
utsurou aki ni awamu to ya mishi
When I planted it, I longed to see the chrysanthemum bloom, yet I never thought I would meet it in autumn as it fades away.
Kokin Wakashu - Oe no Chisato
Akikaze no Fukiage ni tateru shiragiku wa
hana ka aranu ka nami no yosuru ka
The white chrysanthemums standing on the wind-swept shore of Fukiage—are they flowers, or are they the waves breaking upon the shore?
Kokin Wakashu - Sugawara no Michizane
Nurete hosu yamaji no kiku no tsuyu no ma ni
itsu ka chitose o ware wa henikemu
While my clothes, soaked on a mountain path, dry among the dew of chrysanthemums, when was it that I came to pass a thousand years?
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Hana mitsutsu hito matsu toki wa shirotae no
sode ka to nomi zo ayamatarekeru
While gazing at the flowers and waiting for someone to come, I mistook them for the white sleeves of a robe.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Hitomoto to omoishi kiku o Ōsawa no
ike no soko ni mo tare ka uekemu
I thought it was but a single chrysanthemum—yet in the depths of Ōsawa Pond as well, who could have planted it there?
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Aki no kiku niou kagiri wa kazashitemu
hana yori saki to shiranu waga mi o
While the autumn chrysanthemums are in full bloom, I shall wear them in my hair—for I do not know whether my life may end before the flowers.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kokoroate ni oraba ya oramu hatsushimo no
okimadowaseru shiragiku no hana
If I am to pluck them, I shall do so at random—the first frost has fallen and made it impossible to tell which are the white chrysanthemums.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Iro kawaru aki no kiku o ba hitotose ni
futatabi niou hana to koso mire
The autumn chrysanthemum, changing its color as the cold deepens—I see it as a flower that blooms and gives its fragrance twice within a single year.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Aki o okite toki koso arikere kiku no hana
utsurou kara ni iro no masareba
Beyond autumn itself, the chrysanthemum has another season of its prime—for as its color changes, its beauty only deepens.
Kokin Wakashu - Taira no Sadabumi
Sakisomeshi yado shi kawareba kiku no hana
iro sae ni koso utsuroinikere
Since it was moved from the place where it first began to bloom, the chrysanthemum has changed even in its color.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki