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- Manyoshu
Aki no ta no hota no karibaka ka yoriawaba soko mo ka hito no wa o koto nasamu
If in the autumn rice fields our shares of the harvest happened to lie side by side, would people make gossip of me even over that?
Manyoshu - Kusa no Otome
Ōhara no kono ichishiba no itsu shika to aga omou imo ni koyoi aeru kamo
Like the thick brushwood at Ōhara, ichishiba, whose name sounds out "when, oh when," I have longed for her, and tonight at last I have met my beloved.
Manyoshu - Prince Shiki
Waga seko ga keseru koromo no harime ochizu irinikerashi mo aga kokoro sae
Into every stitch of the robe you wear, my love, it seems my very heart has been sewn along with the thread.
Manyoshu - Lady Abe
Hitori nete taenishi himo o yuyushimi to semu sube shira ni ne nomi shi zo naku
Sleeping alone, I found my cord had snapped, and fearing it an evil omen, not knowing what to do, I can only weep aloud.
Manyoshu - Nakatomi no Azumahito
Waga moteru mitsuai ni yoreru ito mochite tsuketemashi mono ima zo kuyashiki
I should have sewn your cord on with the thread I keep, twisted strong from three strands; now I truly regret it.
Manyoshu - Lady Abe
Kamuki ni mo te wa furu to iu o utsutae ni hitozuma to ieba furenu mono kamo
They say that even a sacred tree may be touched by human hands; is a woman, just because she is another man's wife, never to be touched at all?
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Yasumaro
Kasugano no yamabe no michi o yosori naku kayoishi kimi ga mienu koro kamo
You who used to come to me along the path by the hills of Kasuga plain, your heart turned toward no one else, no longer show yourself these days.
Manyoshu - Lady Ishikawa
Amatsutsumi tsune suru kimi wa hisakata no kizo no yo no ame ni korinikemu kamo
You who always stay at home whenever it rains, have you been cured of coming for good by last night's rain from the heavens?
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Iratsume
Hisakata no ame mo furanu ka amatsutsumi kimi ni taguite kono hi kurasamu
If only rain would fall from the heavens, so that, kept indoors by the rain, I could spend this whole day close beside you.
Niwa ni tatsu asade karihoshi nuno sarasu azumaomina o wasuretamau na
I who cut and dry the hemp that grows in my garden and bleach the cloth, a woman of the eastern lands, I pray you, do not forget me.
Manyoshu - The Maiden of Hitachi
Otomera ga tamakushige naru tamakushi no kamusabikemu mo imo ni awazu areba
Like a lovely comb laid away in a maiden's jeweled comb-box, I must have grown old and worn, for I have not met you.
Manyoshu - Fujiwara no Maro
Yoku wataru hito wa toshi ni mo ari to iu o itsu no ma ni zo mo aga koinikeru
They say those who are good at enduring can wait even a year to meet, yet in how short a time have I fallen so deeply into longing?
Manyoshu - Fujiwara no Maro
Mushibusuma nagoya ga shita ni fuseredomo imo to shi neneba hada shi samushi mo
Though I lie beneath soft, warm bedclothes, my skin is cold, for I do not sleep beside you.
Manyoshu - Fujiwara no Maro
Sahogawa no koishi fumiwatari nubatama no kuroma kuru yo wa toshi ni mo aranu ka
The nights when your black horse comes stepping across the pebbles of the Saho River, might they not go on all the year round?
Manyoshu - Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Chidori naku saho no kawase no sazarenami yamu toki mo nashi aga kouraku wa
Like the ripples in the shallows of the Saho River, where the plovers cry, my longing for you never ceases.
Manyoshu - Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Komu to iu mo konu toki aru o koji to iu o komu to wa mataji koji to iu mono o
Even when you say you will come, there are times you do not; so when you say you will not come, I will not wait for you to come, since you have said you will not.
Manyoshu - Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue