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- Gosen Wakashu
Yado chikaku utsushite ueshi kai mo naku machidō ni nomi niou hana kana
I moved you and planted you close to my house, yet it was all in vain: you are a flower that blooms only after I have waited long.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Harugasumi tanabiki ni keri hisakata no tsuki no katsura mo hana ya saku ramu
Spring haze trails across the land. Is the laurel tree in the moon also coming into bloom?
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Izuko to mo haru no hikari wa wakanaku ni mada Miyoshino no yama wa yuki furu
The light of spring shines everywhere without distinction, yet on the mountains of fair Yoshino snow is still falling.
Gosen Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Shiratama o tsutsumu sode nomi nagaruru wa haru wa namida mo saenu nari keri
That only my sleeves, wrapping their white jewels of tears, should be streaming so—it is because in spring even tears no longer freeze.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Haru tachite waga mi furinuru nagame ni wa hito no kokoro no hana mo chiri keri
Spring has come, and as I brood amid the long rains, growing old, even the flowers of that person's heart have fallen.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Waga seko ni misemu to omoishi ume no hana sore to mo miezu yuki no furereba
The plum blossoms I meant to show my beloved can no longer be told apart, for snow has fallen over them.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kite mibeki hito mo araji na waga yado no ume no hatsuhana oritsukushi temu
There will surely be no one coming to see them, so I shall break off every one of the first plum blossoms at my house.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Koto naraba oritsukushi temu ume no hana waga matsu hito no kite mo minaku ni
If it comes to the same thing, I shall break off every plum blossom, since the one I wait for never comes to see them.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Fuku kaze ni chirazu mo aranamu ume no hana waga karigoromo hitoyo yadosamu
Plum blossoms, do not scatter in the blowing wind, I pray, for I shall let my hunting robe lodge here with you for this one night.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Waga yado no ume no hatsuhana hiru wa yuki yoru wa tsuki to mo miemagau kana
The first plum blossoms at my house look like snow by day and like moonlight by night, so easily are they mistaken.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ume no hana yoso nagara mimu wagimoko ga togamu bakari no ka ni mo koso shime
I shall gaze at the plum blossoms from a distance, for I would be in trouble if their scent clung to me so strongly that my wife would question it.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ume no hana oreba koborenu waga sode ni nioi ka utsuse iezuto ni sen
O plum blossoms, you spilled onto my sleeve when I broke the branch; pass your fragrance into it, so I may take it home as a gift.
Gosen Wakashu - Sosei
Kokoro mote oru ka wa ayana ume no hana ka o tomete dani tou hito no naki
It was not by my own will that I was broken off—how unreasonable it is! No one comes to visit me, not even in search of the plum's fragrance.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hitogokoro usa koso masare haru tateba tomarazu kiyuru yuki kakurenamu
Her cruelty only deepens. Now that spring has come, I too shall vanish away, like the snow that cannot linger and melts.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ume no hana ka o fukikakuru harukaze ni kokoro o someba hito ya togamemu
If my heart were dyed by the spring wind that blows the plum blossoms' fragrance over me, would anyone reproach me for it?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Harusame no furaba noyama ni majirinamu ume no hanagasa ari to iu nari
If the spring rain falls, I shall wander into the hills and fields, for they say there is such a thing as a hat of plum blossoms.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet