classic waka stream

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  • Kokin Wakashu

Sahoyama no hahaso no momiji chirinubemi
yoru sae mi yo to terasu tsukikage

Since the oak leaves of Mount Saho seem about to fall, the moonlight shines as if to say: behold them even through the night.

Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

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Okuyama no iwagaki momiji chirinubeshi
teru hi no hikari miru toki nakute

In the deep mountains, the maple leaves clinging to rocky cliffs seem ready to fall, never having seen the shining light of the sun.

Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Sekiwo

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Tatsutagawa momiji midarete nagarumeri
wataraba nishiki naka ya taenamu

On the Tatsuta River, the scattered maple leaves flow in disarray—if I were to cross, would not that brocade be broken?

Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

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Tatsutagawa momijiba nagaru Kannabi no
Mimuro no yama ni shigure fururashi

Maple leaves drift along the Tatsuta River—surely in the sacred Mimuro mountains upstream, the autumn showers are falling.

Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

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Koishiku wa mite mo shinobamu momijiba o
fuki na chirashi so yamaoroshi no kaze

When I feel longing, I shall look upon the maple leaves and remember—so do not scatter them, O mountain wind.

Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

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Akikaze ni aezu chirinuru momijiba no
yukue sadamenu ware zo kanashiki

Like the maple leaves that cannot withstand the autumn wind and scatter, I too, with no certain course ahead, am filled with sorrow.

Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

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Aki wa kinu momiji wa yado ni furishikinu
michi fumiwakete tou hito wa nashi

Autumn has come; fallen leaves lie thick upon my dwelling, yet there is no one who parts them and comes to visit.

Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

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Fumiwakete sara ni wa towamu momijiba no
furikakushiteshi michi to minagara

Parting the fallen leaves as I go, shall I press on to visit, though I see the path hidden beneath them?

Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

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Aki no tsuki yamabe sayaka ni teraseru wa
otsuru momiji no kazu o mi yo to ka

The autumn moon shines so clearly upon the mountains—is it that I might see and count the falling maple leaves?

Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

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Fuku kaze no iro no chigusa ni mietsuru wa
aki no ko no ha no chireba narikeri

The wind that blows seemed to take on many colors—it is because the autumn leaves are falling.

Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

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Shimo no tate tsuyu no nuki koso yowakarashi
yama no nishiki no oreba katsu chiru

The warp of frost and the weft of dew must be weak—the mountain’s brocade, once woven, falls apart at once.

Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Sekiwo

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Wabibito no wakite tachiyoru ko no moto wa
tanomu kage naku momiji chirikeri

For the lonely man who would especially come to stand beneath this tree, even the shade he relied upon is gone—the autumn leaves have all fallen.

Kokin Wakashu - Sojo Henjo

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Momijiba no nagarete tomaru minato ni wa
kurenai fukaki nami ya tatsuramu

Where the autumn leaves flow down and come to rest at the river’s mouth—do waves arise there, deeply dyed in crimson?

Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi

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Chihayaburu kamiyo mo kikazu Tatsutagawa
karakurenai ni mizu kukuru to wa

Even in the age of the gods, it has never been heard that the Tatsuta River could bind its waters in deep scarlet dye.

Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira

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Waga kitsuru kata mo shirarezu Kurabuyama
kigi no ko no ha no chiru to magau ni

Even the way I came I can no longer tell—on Mount Kurabu, where the falling leaves of many trees scatter in confusion.

Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Toshiyuki

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Kannabi no Mimuro no yama o aki yukeba
nishiki tachikiru kokochi koso sure

When I pass in autumn through Mount Mimuro, where the gods abide, it feels as though I have cut and wear a robe of brocade.

Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine

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