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- Kokin Wakashu
Kaji ni ataru nami no shizuku o haru nareba ikaga saki chiru hana to mizaramu
The drops of the waves striking the oar—since it is spring, how could I not see them as blossoms that bloom and scatter?
Kokin Wakashu - Kanramu Ou
Kano kata ni itsu kara saki ni watarikemu namiji wa ato mo nokorazarikeri
Since when, I wonder, did they cross ahead to that far shore? On the pathway of the waves, not a single trace remains.
Kokin Wakashu - Aho no Tsunemi
Nami no hana oki kara sakite chirikumeri mizu no haru to wa kaze ya naru ramu
The flowers of the waves seem to bloom out in the offing and come scattering toward the shore—is it the wind that becomes the spring of the waters?
Kokin Wakashu - Ise
Ubatama no waga kurokami ya kawaru ramu kagami no kage ni fureru shirayuki
Has my hair, once black as jet, changed its color? In the figure reflected in my mirror, white snow has fallen.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Ashihiki no yamabe ni oreba shirakumo no ika ni seyo to ka haruru toki naki
Living here by the mountains, I find the white clouds never clear—what, I wonder, would they have me do?
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Natsukusa no ue wa shigereru numamizu no yuku kata no naki waga kokoro kana
Like the water of a marsh whose surface is covered by thick summer grasses, my heart has nowhere at all to go.
Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine
Aki kureba tsuki no katsura no mi ya wa naru hikari o hana to chirasu bakari o
When autumn comes, does the katsura tree in the moon bear fruit? No—it only scatters its light as if it were blossoms.
Kokin Wakashu - Minamoto no Hodokosu
Hana goto ni akazu chirashishi kaze nareba ikusobaku waga ushi to ka wa omou
Since this wind has scattered every blossom, never tiring of it, how deeply, again and again, must I think it cruel?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Haru kasumi naka shi kayoiji nakariseba aki kuru kari wa kaerazaramashi
If there were no pathway through the spring haze, the wild geese that come in autumn would surely never return to the north.
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Shigeharu
Nagare izuru kata dani mienu namidagawa oki himu toki ya soko wa shiraremu
This river of tears, whose very source cannot be seen—will its bottom be known only when the open waters have run dry?
Kokin Wakashu - Miyako no Yoshika
Nochimaki no okurete ouru nae naredo ada ni wa naranu tanomi to zo kiku
Though these are seedlings sown late and slow to come up, I hear they will not go to waste—they are a hope to rely on, the fruit of the paddy.
Kokin Wakashu - Oe no Chisato
Hana no naka me ni aku ya tote wakeyukeba kokoro zo tomo ni chirinu beranaru
As I push my way in among the blossoms, hoping my eyes might finally have their fill, it seems my heart itself is about to scatter along with them.
Kokin Wakashu - Shōbō
Hototogisu naku ya satsuki no ayamegusa ayame mo shiranu koi mo suru kana
Like the sweet flag of the fifth month, when the cuckoo sings, I have fallen into a love so deep that I no longer know reason or order.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Oto ni nomi kiku no shiratsuyu yoru wa okite hiru wa omoi ni aezu kenubeshi
Longing for someone I know only by rumor, I am like the white dew on the chrysanthemum: by night I lie awake as the dew settles, and by day, unable to bear the fire of my longing, I seem about to vanish as the dew fades in the sun.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei
Yoshinogawa iwanami takaku yuku mizu no hayaku zo hito o omoisometeshi
Like the waters of the Yoshino River, rushing swiftly with waves that break high against the rocks, so early did I begin to love you.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Shiranami no ato naki kata ni yuku fune mo kaze zo tayori no shirube narikeru
Even a boat rowing out toward the open sea of white waves, where no wake remains, finds that the wind is the guide it relies on.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Katsumine