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- Gosen Wakashu
Omoitsutsu ne naku ni akuru fuyu no yo no sode no kōri wa tokezu mo aru kana
Through a winter night that dawns while I lie thinking, unable to sleep, the ice on my tear-soaked sleeves does not melt at all.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Aratama no toshi o watarite aru ga ue ni furitsumu yuki no taenu Shirayama
Mount Shirayama, where the snow that has lasted through the years is ever covered by fresh snow, never ceasing.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Makomo karu horie ni ukite nuru kamo no koyoi no shimo ni ika ni waburan
The ducks that sleep afloat on the canal where the wild rice is cut—how they must suffer in tonight's frost.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Shirakumo no oriiru yama to mietsuru wa furitsumu yuki no kienu narikeri
What looked like a mountain where white clouds had come down to rest was in fact the piled-up snow that had not melted.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Furusato no yuki wa hana to zo furitsumoru nagamuru ware mo omoi kietsutsu
In my old home the snow falls and piles like blossoms, and I who gaze on it am melting away in my brooding thoughts.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Nagareyuku mizu kōrinuru fuyu sae ya nao ukikusa no ato wa todomenu
Even in winter, when the flowing water freezes, does the floating weed still leave no trace behind? Just so, your heart never settles.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kokoroate ni miba koso wakame shirayuki no izure ka hana no chiru ni tagaeru
If I looked only by guesswork, I might tell them apart; but in what way does this white snow differ from falling blossoms?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ama no gawa fuyu wa kōri ni tojitare ya ishima ni tagitsu oto dani mo senu
Is it because in winter the River of Heaven is sealed in ice? Not even the sound of water rushing between the stones is heard.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Oshinabete yuki no furereba waga yado no sugi o tazunete tou hito mo nashi
Since snow has fallen over everything alike, no one seeks out the cedar by my house to come and call.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Fuyu no ike no mizu ni nagaruru ashigamo no ukine nagara ni iku yo henuran
Like the reed ducks drifting on the water of the winter pond, how many nights have I passed in a floating, sorrowful sleep?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yama chikami mezurashige naku furu yuki no shiroku ya naran toshi tsumorinaba
Like the snow that falls so often here, near the mountains, that it is nothing new, will my hair too turn white once the years have piled up?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Matsu no ha ni kakareru yuki no sore o koso fuyu no hana to wa iubekarikere
The snow that clings to the pine needles—that indeed is what we ought to call the flower of winter.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Furu yuki wa kiede mo shibashi tomaranan hana mo momiji mo eda ni naki koro
Falling snow, I wish you would linger awhile without melting, now that neither blossoms nor autumn leaves are on the branches.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Namidagawa mi nagu bakari no fuchi wa aredo kōri tokeneba yuku kata mo nashi
In the river of my tears there are pools deep enough to drown myself in, yet since the ice does not melt, there is nowhere for it to flow.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Furu yuki ni mono omou waga mi otorame ya tsumoritsumorite kienu bakari zo
Am I, who brood in longing, any less than the falling snow? My thoughts have piled and piled, and I am all but ready to melt away.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yoru naraba tsuki to zo mimashi waga yado no niwa shirotae ni furitsumoru yuki
Were it night, I would take it for moonlight: the snow that has fallen and piled in my garden, turning it pure white.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet