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- Shui Wakashu
Ukiyo ni wa kado saseri to mo mienaku ni nado ka waga mi no idegate ni suru
In this sorrowful world there seems to be no gate closed against me, so why is it so hard for me to leave it?
Shui Wakashu - Taira no Sadafun
Ki ni mo oizu hane mo narabede nanishi ka mo namiji hedatete kimi o kiku ran
We have not grown as branches of one tree, nor flown with wings side by side; why, then, must I only hear word of you from across the paths of the waves?
Shui Wakashu - Ise
Sasanami ya Ōmi no miya wa na nomi shite kasumi tanabiki miyakimori nashi
The palace of Ōmi at Sasanami remains in name only; the haze trails over it, and there is no one to guard its trees.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Akatsuki no nezame no chidori ta ga tame ka Saho no kawara ni ochikaeri naku
The plovers, waking before the dawn—for whose sake do they cry again and again on the riverbed of Saho?
Shui Wakashu - Onakatomi no Yoshinobu
Asakaranu chigiri musuberu kokoroba wa tamuke no kami zo shirubekarikeru
The depth of the heart in this token, tied with a bond that is far from shallow, the god of wayside offerings surely knows.
Shui Wakashu - Onakatomi no Yoshinobu
Miwa no yama shirushi no sugi wa arinagara oshieshi hito wa nakute ikuyo zo
On Mount Miwa the cedar that served as a sign still stands, but the one who told of it is gone—how many ages have passed since then?
Shui Wakashu - Kiyohara no Motosuke
Okitsushima kumoi no kishi o yukikaeri fumi kayowasamu maharoshi mogana
I wish there were a sorcerer who could travel back and forth to the shore of that offshore isle beyond the clouds and carry our letters between us.
Shui Wakashu - Hizen
Sora no umi ni kumo no nami tachi tsuki no fune sato no hayashi ni kogikakuru miyu
On the sea of the sky, waves of cloud rise, and the moon's boat can be seen rowing away to hide in the forest of stars.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Kawa no se no uzumaku mireba tamamo karu chirimidaretaru kawa no fune kamo
Watching the river shoals swirl and eddy, I wonder whether they are the boats cutting jewel-like waterweed, scattered all about the river.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Narukami no oto ni nomi kiku Makimuku no Hibara no yama o kyō mitsuru kana
Today at last I have seen the cypress-covered mountain of Makimuku, which until now I had known only by report, like the distant sound of thunder.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Inishie ni arikemu hito mo waga goto ya Miwa no Hibara ni kazashi oriken
Did the people of long ago, just as I do now, break off sprays in the cypress groves of Miwa to adorn their hair?
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Hito shirezu koyu to omou rashi ashihiki no yamashitamizu ni kage wa mietsutsu
It seems he thinks he is crossing the mountain unknown to anyone, yet his form is clearly reflected in the stream flowing at its foot.
Shui Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Ofu no umi ni funanori suran wagimoko ga akamo no suso ni shio mitsuran ka
My beloved, who must be out in a boat on the sea of Ofu—is the tide now rising about the hem of her red skirt?
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Omou koto naru to iu naru Suzukayama koete ureshiki sakai to zo kiku
I hear that Suzuka Mountain, where they say one's wishes ring true, is a happy boundary to cross.
Shui Wakashu - Emperor Murakami
Yo ni fureba mata mo koekeri Suzukayama mukashi no ima ni naru ni ya aru ran
Having lived on in the world, I have crossed Suzuka Mountain once again. Has the past, I wonder, come round to be the present?
Shui Wakashu - Princess Kishi
Asukagawa shigarami watashi sekamaseba nagaruru mizu mo nodokekaramashi
Had we laid a weir across the Asuka River and held back its current, even its flowing waters would have run calm and slow.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro