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- Shui Wakashu
Mokaribune ima zo nagisa ni kiyosu naru migiwa no tazu no koe sawagu nari
It seems the seaweed-cutting boats are now drawing up to the shore, for the cranes at the water's edge are crying in a clamor.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Uchishinobi iza Suminoe no wasuregusa wasurete hito no mata ya tsumanu to
Let me go secretly and dwell at Suminoe, to watch whether you, forgetting me, will pick its grass of forgetting once again.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Asaborake higurashi no koe kikoyu nari ko ya akekure to hito no iu ran
At daybreak I hear the voice of the higurashi, the cicada of day's end. Is this what people mean when they speak of "from dawn to dusk"?
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Naritoki
Ashima yori miyuru Nagara no hashibashira mukashi no ato no shirobe narikeri
The bridge pillars of Nagara, glimpsed between the reeds, are what guide us to the traces of long ago.
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kiyotada
Kyō made to miru ni namida no masukagami narenishi kage o hito ni kataru na
O clear mirror, as I look into you thinking this is the last day, my tears only increase. Do not tell anyone of the face you have known so long.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Wasuru na yo hodo wa kumoi ni narinu tomo sora yuku tsuki no meguriau made
Do not forget me, though the distance between us grows as far as the clouds, until we meet again as the moon that crosses the sky comes round once more.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Toshitsuki wa mukashi ni arazu nariyukedo koishiki koto wa kawarazarikeri
The years and months go on changing and are no longer as they were, yet my longing has not changed at all.
Shui Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Mukashi waga orishi katsura no kai mo nashi tsuki no hayashi no meshi ni iraneba
It is of no use that long ago I broke the laurel branch and passed the examinations, for I was not summoned to the Forest of the Moon.
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Nochio
Hisakata no tsuki no katsura mo oru bakari ie no kaze o mo fukaseteshi gana
I wish that you would make the wind of our house blow strong enough to break even the laurel branch on the moon.
Shui Wakashu - Mother of Sugawara no Michizane
Tsukikusa ni koromo wa suran asatsuyu ni nurete no nochi wa utsuroinu tomo
I will dye my robe with dayflowers, even though, once wet with the morning dew, its color will fade away.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Chichiwaku ni hito wa iu tomo orite kimu waga hatamono ni shiroki asaginu
Whatever people may say, I will weave it and wear it—the white hemp robe on my own loom.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Hisakata no ame ni wa kinu o ayashiku mo waga koromode no hiru toki mo naki
Though I do not wear it out in the rain, strangely enough, the sleeves of my robe never have a moment to dry.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Shiranami wa tatedo koromo ni kasanarazu Akashi mo Suma mo onoga uraura
Though the white waves rise like the warp threads, they never lie layered upon a robe; Akashi and Suma each remain their own separate shore, never joined like a robe's front and lining.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Yū sareba koromode samushi wagimoko ga tokiaraigoromo yukite haya kimu
When evening comes, my sleeves are cold. I long to go home quickly and put on the robe my dear wife unstitched and washed for me.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Amatsu hoshi michi mo yadori mo arinagara sora ni ukite mo omohoyuru kana
The stars in the heavens have both their paths and their lodgings, yet I feel as if I were drifting in the empty sky, forlorn and full of sorrow.
Shui Wakashu - Sugawara no Michizane
Nagaregi mo mitose arite wa aimiten yo no uki koto zo kaerazarikeru
Even wood drifting on the water will meet again after three years have passed, but the sorrows of this world never return to what they were.
Shui Wakashu - Sugawara no Michizane