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- Kokin Wakashu
Ōsaka no seki ni nagaruru iwashimizu iwade kokoro ni omoi koso sure
Like the clear water welling from the rocks at the Osaka Barrier, without saying a word, I love you in my heart.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ukikusa no ue wa shigereru fuchi nare ya fukaki kokoro o shiru hito no naki
Is my heart a deep pool with floating weeds grown thick upon its surface, that no one knows how deep it is?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Uchiwabite yobawamu koe ni yamabiko no kotaenu yama wa araji to zo omou
Worn out with the pain of love, I think there is no mountain whose echo would fail to answer the voice with which I keep calling.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kokorogae suru mono ni moga katakoi wa kurushiki mono to hito ni shirasemu
If only hearts could be exchanged! Then I would let you know how painful one-sided love can be.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yoso ni shite koureba kurushi irehimo no onaji kokoro ni iza musubitemu
Loving you from afar is painful; like the cords of a robe slipped through one another, let us join our hearts as one and tie our bond.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Haru tateba kiyuru kōri no nokori naku kimi ga kokoro wa ware ni toke namu
As the ice melts away without a trace when spring arrives, may your heart melt toward me completely.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Aketateba semi no orihae nakikurashi yoru wa hotaru no moe koso watare
When the day breaks, like the cicadas I weep the whole day through, and when night falls, like the fireflies I go on burning.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Natsumushi no mi o itazura ni nasu koto mo hitotsu omoi ni yorite narikeri
That summer insects throw away their lives in vain, flying into the flame, is, I now see, because of the same single fire of longing that burns in me.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yū sareba itodo higataki waga sode ni aki no tsuyu sae okisowaritsutsu
When evening comes, my sleeves, already hard to dry from tears of love, gather the autumn dew on top of it all.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Itsu tote mo koishikarazu wa aranedomo aki no yūbe wa ayashikarikeri
There is no time at all when I do not long for you, and yet how strangely my longing deepens in the autumn evenings.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Aki no ta no ho ni koso hito o koizarame nado ka kokoro ni wasure shi mo semu
Though I may not love you openly, as the ears of autumn rice stand out in the fields, how could I ever forget you in my heart?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Aki no ta no ho no ue o terasu inazuma no hikari no ma ni mo ware ya wasururu
Even for the brief instant of the lightning that flashes over the ears of rice in the autumn fields, could I ever forget you?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hitome moru ware ka wa ayana hanasusuki nado ka ho ni idete koizu shi mo aramu
Am I one to shrink from others' eyes? How absurd! Like pampas grass putting forth its plumes, why should I not love openly for all to see?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Awayuki no tamareba kate ni kudaketsutsu waga mono omoi no shigeki koro kana
As the light snow, when it piles up, cannot bear its weight and breaks apart, so my heart breaks as my thoughts of love grow ever thicker these days.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Okuyama no suga no ne shinogi furu yuki no kenu to ka iwamu koi no shigeki ni
Like the snow that falls in the deep mountains, bending down the roots of the sedge, shall I say I am about to vanish, so incessant is my love?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Omoitsutsu nureba ya hito no mietsuramu yume to shiriseba samezaramashi o
Was it because I fell asleep thinking of him that he appeared to me? Had I known it was only a dream, I would never have woken up.
Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Komachi