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- Manyoshu
Kasugano ni awa makeriseba shishimachi ni tsugite yukamashi o yashiro shi urameshi
If you had sown millet on the fields of Kasuga, I would go there again and again to wait for the deer—how I resent that shrine!
Manyoshu - Saeki no Akamaro
Waga matsuru kami ni wa arazu masurao ni tsukitaru kami zo yoku matsurubeshi
That is no god I worship—it is the god that possesses you, my fine gentleman. Tend to its worship well!
Harugasumi Kasuga no sato no uekonagi nae nari to iishi e wa sashinikemu
The young water leek planted in Kasuga village—they said it was still a seedling, but surely by now its stems have grown.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Surugamaro
Nadeshiko ga sono hana ni moga asana sana te ni torimochite koinu hi nakemu
If only you were a pink blossom—every morning I would take you in my hands, and not a day would pass without my loving you.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Hitohi ni wa chienami shiki ni omoedomo nazo sono tama no te ni makikataki
Within a single day I think of her as often as the waves roll in, fold upon fold—why then is that jewel so hard to wind around my wrist?
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Surugamaro
Tachibana o yado ni ue ooshi tachite ite nochi ni kuyu tomo shirushi arame ya mo
I planted a mandarin orange tree in my garden and raised it, fretting over it constantly—but if I should come to regret it later, what good would that do?
Manyoshu - Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Wagimoko ga yado no tachibana ito chikaku ueteshi yue ni narazu wa yamaji
The mandarin tree in your garden, planted so close beside me—it will surely not fail to bear fruit.
Inadaki ni kisumeru tama wa futatsu nashi ka ni mo kaku ni mo kimi ga manimani
The jewel treasured in the knot atop my head—there is no other like it. Do with it, one way or another, as you please.
Manyoshu - Prince Ichihara
Suma no ama no shioyakiginu no fujigoromo madō ni shi areba imada kinarezu
The wisteria robe that the fisher girls of Suma wear to boil salt is so loosely woven that I am not yet used to wearing it.
Manyoshu - Ōami no Hitonushi
Ashihiki no iwane kogoshimi suga no ne o hikaba katami to shime nomi zo yuu
The rocks are so rugged that pulling up the sedge by its roots would be hard—so for now I only tie a rope to mark it as mine.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Ie ni araba imo ga te makamu kusamakura tabi ni koyaseru kono tabito aware
Had he been at home, he would be resting his head on his wife's arm—but here he lies fallen on his journey, this poor traveler, alas!
Manyoshu - Prince Shōtoku
Momozutau Iware no ike ni naku kamo o kyō nomi mite ya kumogakurinamu
The wild ducks crying on the pond of Iware—am I to see them only this one last day, and then vanish behind the clouds?
Manyoshu - Prince Ōtsu
Ōkimi no nikitama ae ya Toyokuni no Kagami no yama o miya to sadamuru
Was it because it suited our lord's gentle spirit that he chose Mount Kagami in Toyokuni as his eternal palace?
Manyoshu - Princess Tamochi
Toyokuni no Kagami no yama no iwato tate komorinikerashi matedo kimasazu
In Toyokuni, on Mount Kagami, he seems to have closed the rock door and shut himself away—however long I wait, he does not come.
Manyoshu - Princess Tamochi
Iwato waru tajikara mo ga mo tayowaki omina ni shi areba sube no shiranaku
If only I had the strength of arm to break open that rock door! But I am only a weak woman, and I do not know what to do.
Manyoshu - Princess Tamochi
Oyozure no tawakoto to ka mo takayama no iwao no ue ni kimi ga koyaseru
Could it be wild, deceiving talk—that you lie upon the great rock on the high mountain?
Manyoshu - Princess Nyū