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- Kokin Wakashu
Shio no yama Sashide no iso ni sumu chidori
kimi ga miyo o ba yachiyo to zo naku
At the jutting shore of Shio-no-yama, the plovers that dwell there seem to cry “eight thousand years,” for the span of your reign.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Waga yowai kimi ga yachiyo ni torisoete
todomeokiteba omoide ni seyo
If my years could be added to your long life, then keep what remains as a memory of me.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kaku shitsutsu to ni mo kaku ni mo nagaraete
kimi ga yachiyo ni au yoshi mogana
In this way, somehow lingering on in life, if only there were a way to meet your long enduring years.
Kokin Wakashu - Emperor Koko
Chihayaburu kami ya kirikemu tsuku kara ni
chitose no saka mo koenu beranari
Was this staff perhaps cut by the mighty gods? As I take it up, it feels as though I may even cross the slope of a thousand years.
Kokin Wakashu - Sojo Henjo
Sakurabana chirikai kumore oiraku no
komu to iu naru michi magau ga ni
Cherry blossoms, scatter and swirl, clouding the way—so that the path by which old age is said to come may lose its way.
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Yukihira
Kame no o no yama no iwane o tomete otsuru
taki no shiratama chiyo no kazu kamo
From Mount Kame-no-o, along the rooted rocks, the falling cascade—are its white jeweled drops the count of your thousand years?
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Koretake
Itazura ni sugusu tsukihi wa omooede
hana mite kurasu haru zo sukunaki
The months and days that pass idly I scarcely notice, yet when I spend spring gazing at blossoms, I feel how few such seasons there are.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Okikaze
Haru kureba yado ni mazu saku ume no hana
kimi ga chitose no kazashi to zo miru
When spring comes, the plum blossoms that first bloom at my dwelling appear as adornment for your thousand years of life.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Inishie ni ariki wa arazu wa shiranedomo
chitose no tameshi kimi ni hajimemu
Whether such a thing has ever been in ages past I do not know, but let the example of a thousand years begin with you.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Fushite omoi okite kazouru yorozuyo wa
kami zo shiruramu waga kimi no tame
Lying down I pray, rising I count the passing years—those ten thousand ages, the gods alone must surely know, all for the sake of my lord.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Tsuru kame mo chitose no nochi wa shiranaku ni
akanu kokoro ni makasete hatetemu
Even the crane and the tortoise do not know what lies beyond a thousand years, yet I yield to my heart that cannot be content, and let it go on to the end.
Kokin Wakashu - Shigeharu Fujiwara
Yorozuyo o matsu ni zo kimi o iwaitsuru
chitose no kage ni sumamu to omoeba
For ten thousand years I have entrusted your blessing to the pine; for I would dwell beneath the shade of your thousand years and live in peace.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Kasugano ni wakana tsumitsutsu yorozuyo o
iwau kokoro wa kami zo shiruramu
On the plain of Kasuga, while gathering young herbs, the heart that prays for long life must surely be known to the gods.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Yama takami kumoi ni miyuru sakurabana
kokoro no yukite oranu hi zo naki
Because the mountain is high, the cherry blossoms appear among the clouds; there is not a day when my heart does not go there, wishing to pluck them.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Mezurashiki koe naranaku ni hototogisu
kokora no toshi o akazu mo aru kana
Though it is not a rare voice, the cuckoo’s call never wearies me; even through many years, I never tire of it.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Suminoe no matsu o akikaze fuku kara ni
koe uchisouru oki tsu shiranami
As the autumn wind blows through the pines of Suminoe, the white waves offshore add their sound and resound together.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune