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- Manyoshu
Miyako naru aretaru ie ni hitori neba tabi ni masarite kurushikarubeshi
If I sleep alone in my neglected house in the capital, it will surely be harder to bear than any journey.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Ōkimi no mikoto kashikomi ōaraki no toki ni wa aranedo kumogakurimasu
In reverence for our sovereign's command, though it was not yet the time for the great funeral rites, he has vanished behind the clouds.
Manyoshu - Princess Kurahashibe
Yo no naka wa munashiki mono to aramu to zo kono teru tsuki wa michikake shikeru
It is to show that this world is empty and vain that the shining moon waxes and wanes.
Kinō koso kimi wa arishika omowanu ni hamamatsu no ue ni kumo ni tanabiku
Only yesterday you were alive—and now, unforeseen, you trail as a cloud above the pines along the shore.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Minaka
Itsushika to matsuramu imo ni tamazusa no koto dani tsugezu inishi kimi kamo
To your wife, who must be waiting and wondering when you will come, you sent not even a word—and you are gone.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Minaka
Wagimoko ga mishi Tomo no ura no muro no ki wa tokoyo ni aredo mishi hito zo naki
The juniper tree at Tomo Bay that my wife once saw is still here, unchanged forever—but she who saw it is no more.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Tomo no ura no iso no muro no ki mimu goto ni aimishi imo wa wasurae me ya mo
Whenever I see the juniper on the rocky shore of Tomo Bay, how could I ever forget my wife, who saw it with me?
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Iso no ue ni nebau muro no ki mishi hito o izura to towaba kataritsugemu ka
Juniper with your roots spread over the rocky shore—if I ask you where the one who saw you has gone, will you tell me?
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Imo to koshi Minume no saki o kaerusa ni hitori shi mireba namidagumashi mo
On the way home, seeing all alone the cape of Minume that I passed with my wife, my eyes fill with tears.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Yukusa ni wa futari waga mishi kono saki o hitori sugureba kokoro kanashi mo
This cape that we two gazed upon together on the way out—passing it now alone, my heart is filled with sorrow.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Hito mo naki munashiki ie wa kusamakura tabi ni masarite kurushikarikeri
This empty house, with no one in it—it is harder to bear than any journey.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Imo to shite futari tsukurishi waga shima wa kodakaku shigeku narinikeru kamo
The garden my wife and I made together—its trees have grown tall and thick.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Wagimoko ga ueshi ume no ki miru goto ni kokoro musetsutsu namida shi nagaru
Every time I look at the plum tree my wife planted, my heart chokes with sobs and my tears flow.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Hashikiyashi sakaeshi kimi no imashiseba kinō mo kyō mo wa o mesamashi o
Ah, my beloved lord, who flourished so—were he still alive, he would have called for me yesterday and today as always.
Manyoshu - Yo no Myōgun
Kaku nomi ni arikeru mono o hagi no hana sakite ari ya to toishi kimi wa mo
Though his end was so near, he asked me whether the bush clover had bloomed—ah, my lord!
Manyoshu - Yo no Myōgun
Kimi ni koi ita mo sube nami ashitazu no ne nomi shi nakayu asayoi ni shite
Longing for my lord and at a loss what to do, I can only cry aloud like the cranes among the reeds, morning and evening.
Manyoshu - Yo no Myōgun