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- Tosa Nikki
Kyō naredo wakana mo tsumazu kasugano no waga kogiwataru ura ni nakereba
Though it is the day, I gather no spring greens, for Kasuga Moor is nowhere to be found along the shores I row past.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Toshigoro o sumishi tokoro no na ni shi oeba kiyoru nami o mo aware to zo miru
Because this place bears the name of the land where I lived for so many years, even the waves that wash ashore seem dear to me.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Tamakushige hako no uranami tatanu hi wa umi o kagami to tare ka mizaramu
On days when no waves rise in Hako Bay—the bay of the jewel box—who would not see the sea as a mirror?
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Hiku fune no tsunade no nagaki haru no hi o yosoka ika made ware wa henikeri
Long as the towrope of the boat we haul along are these spring days—and I have spent forty, fifty of them on this journey.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
O o yorite kai naki mono wa ochitsumoru namida no tama o nukanu narikeri
However I twist the cord, one thing is in vain: the jewels of my falling tears, piling up, can never be strung.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Yosuru nami uchi mo yosenamu waga kouru hito wasuregai orite hirowamu
O breaking waves, wash ashore for me the shell that makes one forget the one I long for, and I will go down and gather it.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Wasuregai hiroishi mo seji shiratama o kouru o dani mo katami to omowamu
I will never gather the shells of forgetting. Instead I will keep my longing for my lost white jewel as her keepsake.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Te o hidete samusa mo shiranu izumi ni zo kumu to wa nashi ni higoro henikeru
Here at Izumi—the spring whose chill my hands have never felt—I have spent day after day without drawing any water at all.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Yukedo nao yukiyararenu wa imo ga umu otsu no ura naru kishi no matsubara
Though we press on and on, we can never get past it—the pine grove along the shore of Otsu Bay, drawn out long as the hemp a wife spins.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Inorikuru kazama to omou o ayanaku ni kamome sae dani nami to miyuramu
I thought our prayers had won us a lull in the wind—so why, for no reason at all, should even the gulls look like waves to me?
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Ima mite zo mi oba shirinuru suminoe no matsu yori saki ni ware wa henikeri
Only now, seeing them, do I know myself: sooner than the ancient pines of Suminoe, I have grown old.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Suminoe ni fune sashiyoseyo wasuregusa shirushi ari ya to tsumite yukubeku
Steer the boat to the shore of Suminoe, so I can pick the grass of forgetting and see whether it truly works.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Chihayaburu kami no kokoro no aruru umi ni kagami o irete katsu mitsuru kana
Into the sea, stormy with the raging heart of its mighty god, we cast our mirror—and at once we saw that heart laid bare.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Itsushika to ibusekaritsuru naniwagata ashi kogisokete mifune kinikeri
Naniwa Bay, which we have waited for so long and so wearily—now our ship has rowed through the reeds and arrived at last.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kitokite wa kawa no horie no mizu o asami fune mo waga mi mo nazumu kyō kana
We have come this far, yet the water in the river channel is so shallow that today both the boat and I can barely make our way.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Toku to omou fune nayamasu wa waga tame ni mizu no kokoro no asaki narikeri
What hinders the boat I long to speed on is simply this: the river's heart runs shallow toward me.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki