classic waka stream

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  • Heike Monogatari

Azumaji no kusaba o waken sode yori mo
tatanu tamoto no tsuyu zo koboruru

More than on the sleeve that parts the grasses of the eastern road, the dew falls on the sleeves of one who does not set out at all.

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Kanemitsu

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Wakareji o nani ka nagekan koete yuku
seki mo mukashi no ato to omoeba

Why should I lament this parting of ways? The barrier I am to cross is one my forebears crossed, a trace left from long ago.

Heike Monogatari - Go-Toba In

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Hiraya naru Munemori ika ni sawaguran
hashira to tanomu suke o otoshite

The keeper of the ridgepole of that flat little house must be in an uproar, now that the brace he counted on has fallen away.

Heike Monogatari - Sei Shōnagon

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Fujigawa no zeze no iwa kosu mizu yori mo
hayaku mo otsuru Ise Heishi kana

Faster than the water leaping the rocks in the shallows of the Fuji, down they came falling—these Taira out of Ise.

Heike Monogatari - Sei Shōnagon

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Fujigawa ni yoroi wa sutetsu sumizome no
koromo Tadakiyo nochi no yo no tame

Your armor is gone, left at the Fuji—then simply put on the ink-dyed robe, Tadakiyo, and wear it for the sake of the next world.

Heike Monogatari - Sei Shōnagon

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Tadakiyo wa nige no uma ni zo noritegeru
Kazusa shirigai kakete kai nashi

Tadakiyo rode off on a horse of flight-brown. No use, Kazusa, in strapping on the crupper when all the beast does is run.

Heike Monogatari - Sei Shōnagon

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Tsune ni mishi kimi ga miyuki o kyō toeba
kaeranu tabi to kiku zo kanashiki

That progress of his, which I watched so often—today, when I ask where it is bound, they tell me it is a road from which he will not return.

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Teika

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Shinoburedo iro ni idenikeri waga koi wa
mono ya omou to hito no tou made

Though I kept it hidden, my love has shown in my face—so plainly that people ask whether something is troubling me.

Heike Monogatari - Kunaikyo

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Omoikane kokoro wa sora ni Michinoku no
Chika no Shiogama chikaki kai nashi

I cannot bear it, and my heart is off in the sky—like the salt kilns of Chika in far Michinoku, she is near, and her nearness does me no good at all.

Heike Monogatari - Sei Shōnagon (opening lines), Fujiwara no Kintō (closing lines)

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Tamazusa o ima wa te ni dani toraji to ya
sa koso kokoro ni omoisutsu tomo

Will you not even take my letter into your hand any more—even if in your heart you have cast me off entirely?

Heike Monogatari - Sei Shōnagon (opening lines), Fujiwara no Kintō (closing lines)

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Yonaki su to Tadamori tate yo sue no yo ni
kiyoku sakauru koto mo koso are

They say he cries at night—then simply guard him well, Tadamori; in the age to come he may yet flourish, and flourish cleanly.

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Yoshitsune

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Chihayaburu kami ni inori no kanaeba ya
shiruku mo iro no arawarenikeri

Was it that my prayer to the god was heard? So clear a sign has shown itself here before my eyes, in visible color.

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Sukezane

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Tairaka ni hana saku yado mo toshi hereba
nishi e katabuku tsuki to koso mire

The house where flowers bloomed in peace—now that the years have passed, it looks only like a moon leaning westward to set.

Heike Monogatari - Sei Shōnagon

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Ika ni sen fuji no sueba no kareyuku o
tada haru no hi ni makasete ya min

What is to be done? The trailing leaves of the wisteria are withering. I shall leave it to the spring sun, and trouble myself no further.

Heike Monogatari - Emperor Juntoku

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Sazanami ya Shiga no miyako wa arenishi o
mukashi nagara no yamazakura kana

The capital at Shiga has long gone to ruin, and yet the mountain cherries bloom here still, just as they bloomed long ago.

Heike Monogatari - Go-Toba In

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Akazu shite wakaruru kimi ga nagori o ba
nochi no katami ni tsutsumite zo oku

We part before I have had my fill of you; so what remains of you I shall wrap up and keep here, a token for the days to come.

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Hideyoshi

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