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- Kokin Wakashu
Near my dwelling, I would not plant plum blossoms— how pointless that would be; for their scent is mistaken for the sleeves of one I await.
I would not plant plum blossoms near my dwelling; how pointless that would be, for their fragrance would only be mistaken for the scent of the sleeves of the one I wait for.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
The plum blossoms said to be sewn on the warbler’s hat— I will break them off and set them in my hair, thinking they may hide my age.
I will break off the plum blossoms said to be sewn upon the warbler’s hat and set them in my hair, thinking they may hide my age.
Kokin Wakashu - Minamoto no Tsune
Only from afar had I felt their deep beauty— these plum blossoms; their color I never tire of I knew only when I broke them off.
I had felt the deep beauty of the plum blossoms only from afar; the color I never tire of I truly knew only when I broke them off.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
To whom but you should I show these plum blossoms— their color and scent; one who knows both the color and scent is the one who knows them.
To whom but you should I show these plum blossoms? Only one who truly knows their color and their fragrance can understand them.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
In spring, when plum blossoms give forth their scent, Mount Kurabu— though I crossed it in the dark of night, clearly, there they were, I knew.
In spring, when the plum blossoms were in fragrant bloom, though I crossed Mount Kurabu in the darkness of night, I knew clearly that the plum blossoms were there by their scent.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
On a moonlit night, I could not tell which was which— plum blossoms, so by seeking out their scent, I came to know the way.
On a moonlit night, all was washed in white light and I could not tell which were the plum blossoms, so by seeking out their scent I knew which were the plum blossoms.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
In the spring night’s dark, how pointless is the deep gloom— plum blossoms: though their color is not seen, how could their scent be hidden?
The darkness of a spring night is truly futile: in the dark the color of the plum blossoms cannot be seen, but how could their fragrance be hidden? It cannot be hidden.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
You—who knows? your heart I do not know; as for this old home, only the blossoms, as of old, still give forth their scent.
You may speak as you will, for I do not know your heart; yet in this familiar old lodging, it is only the plum blossoms that know my heart well, greeting me with the same fragrance as in former days.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Each spring, the flowing stream I take for blossoms, and reaching for flowers that cannot be plucked, my sleeves are wet with water.
Each spring, mistaking the plum blossoms reflected in the flowing stream for real flowers, I reach out to pluck them and end up wetting my sleeves in the river’s water.
Kokin Wakashu - Ise
Over the years, the water that becomes the flowers’ mirror— when blossoms scatter down, would one say the water’s mirror has grown clouded?
Over the years, the water that has become a mirror for the flowers—when blossoms scatter down upon it, would one say that the water mirror has grown clouded?
Kokin Wakashu - Ise
Coming and going, I did not let my eyes leave the plum blossoms— at dusk I looked on them, at dawn I looked on them; yet when did they fade away?
Though I would look on the plum blossoms at dusk, and then again at dawn, never letting my eyes leave them, when was it that they faded away while no one was there?
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
If only I could transfer the plum’s fragrance to my sleeves and keep it— though spring should pass at once, it would be a keepsake.
If only I could transfer the plum’s fragrance to my sleeves and keep it; even when spring passes at once, it would become a keepsake of the plum blossoms.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Seeing them fall, that should have been all—yet these plum blossoms, so vexing, leave their fragrance lingering on my sleeves.
Seeing the blossoms fall should have been the end of it, and yet, vexingly, the plum blossoms leave their fragrance lingering on my sleeves.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
From this year on, first learning what spring is, O cherry blossoms— do not learn this thing they call falling from other trees.
O cherry blossoms that have first learned what spring is from this year on, do not learn from other trees the thing they call falling.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
High on the mountain, where people do not come at all, O cherry blossoms— do not grieve too bitterly; I will hasten to praise you.
O cherry blossoms that bloom high on the mountain where no people come to admire you, do not grieve too bitterly; I will hasten to praise you.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mountain cherry trees— I have come on purpose to see; spring haze rises, on the peaks and on the slopes, standing thick, concealing them.
When I have come on purpose to see the mountain cherry trees, the spring haze rises from peak to slope, standing thick and concealing them from sight.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet