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- Shika Wakashu
Omoikane wakareshi nobe o kite mireba asaji ga hara ni akikaze zo fuku
Unable to bear my longing, I came to the field where we parted, and found only the autumn wind blowing across the plain of cogon grass.
Shika Wakashu - Minamoto no Michinari
Furusato e ware wa kaerinu Takekuma no matsu to wa tare ni tsugeyo to ka omou
I am going back to my old home; then to whom do you expect me to say that you are waiting, like the pine of Takekuma?
Karehatsuru fuji no sueba no kanashiki wa tada haru no hi o tanomu bakari zo
The sorrow of the wisteria's last leaves, withered to the end, is that they have nothing to rely on but the light of the spring sun.
Shika Wakashu - Fujiwara no Akisuke
Yoru no tsuru miyako no uchi ni hanatarete ko o koitsutsu mo nakiakasu kana
Like the crane that cries at night, left within the capital apart from my child, I weep the night through, longing for my son.
Shika Wakashu - Gido Sanshi no Haha
Mi no usa wa suginuru kata o omou ni mo ima yukusue no koto zo kanashiki
When I think on the misery of my life, looking back on the days gone by, it is what lies ahead that grieves me most.
Shika Wakashu - Minamoto no Moroyori
Umoregi no shita wa kutsuredo inishie no hana no kokoro wa wasurezarikeri
The buried tree has rotted away below, yet it has not forgotten the heart of its blossoms in days gone by.
Shika Wakashu - Oe no Masafusa
Ima wa tada mukashi zo tsune ni koiraruru nokori arishi o omoide ni shite
Now I find myself always longing only for the past, cherishing the memory of a time when much of life still lay ahead.
Oite nochi mukashi o shinobu namida koso kokora hitome o shinobazarikere
Now that I am old, the tears I shed in remembering the past no longer hide themselves from all the watching eyes.
Shika Wakashu - Kiyohara no Motosuke
Yukusue no inishie bakari koishiku wa suguru tsukihi mo nagekazaramashi
If the days ahead were as dear to me as the days of long ago, I would not grieve at the passing of the months and days.
Itoite mo nao oshimaruru waga mi kana futatabi ku beki kono yo naraneba
Though I loathe this world, I still find myself clinging to my life, for this is not a world to which one may come a second time.
Shika Wakashu - Fujiwara no Suemichi
Naniwae no ashima ni yadoru tsuki mireba waga mi hitotsu mo shizumazarikeri
Seeing the moon lodged in the water among the reeds of Naniwa Inlet, I realize that I am not the only one who has sunk.
Shika Wakashu - Fujiwara no Akisuke
Ashibi taku maya no sumika wa yo no naka o akugareizuru kadode narikeri
This humble dwelling where I burn reeds for fire has proved to be the very threshold from which my heart sets out, drifting away from the world.
Shika Wakashu - Minamoto no Toshiyori
Shizu no me ga egu tsumu sawa no usugōri itsu made fu beki waga mi naruramu
Like the thin ice on the marsh where a humble girl gathers egu shoots, how long, I wonder, can I go on living in this world?
Shika Wakashu - Minamoto no Toshiyori
Mukashi mishi kumoi o koite ashitazu no sawabe ni naku ya waga mi naruramu
Like the reed crane crying on the marsh shore, longing for the high clouds it knew long ago — is that, I wonder, what I have become?
Mikazuki no mata ariake ni narinuru ya ukiyo o meguru tameshi naruramu
The crescent moon has waned once more into the moon of dawn — is this, I wonder, a sign of how we go round and round in this sorrowful world?
Shika Wakashu - Fujiwara no Norinaga
Chiru hana ni mata mo ya awamu obotsukana sono haru made to shiranu mi nareba
Shall I ever meet these falling blossoms again? How uncertain it is, for I cannot know that I will live until next spring.
Shika Wakashu - Fujiwara no Sanekata