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- Kinyo Wakashu
Hagakurete tsuharu to mieshi hodo mo naku ko wa umiume ni narinikeru kana
Hidden among the leaves, they seemed only to be budding, and in no time at all they have become ripe plums—and the child is already born.
Kinyo Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hitonami ni kokoro bakari wa tachisoite sasowanu Waka no urami o zo suru
Like everyone else, my heart at least went along with you, but since you did not invite me to the Bay of Waka, instead of gazing on its shore I can only reproach you.
Kotowari ya kumoreba koso wa masukagami utsureru kage mo miezu narurame
It is only natural: because it has clouded over, the image in the clear mirror can no longer be seen.
Nishi e yuku kokoro wa ware mo aru mono o hitori na iri so aki no yo no tsuki
I too have a heart that longs to go west, so do not sink behind the hills alone, O moon of the autumn night.
Matsu ware wa aware yaso ni narinuru o Abukumagawa no tōzakarinuru
I, who have waited like the pine, alas, have reached eighty years, yet like the Abukuma River, the chance of meeting you has only drifted farther away.
Mikasayama kami no shirushi no ichishiruku shika arikeri to kiku zo ureshiki
How glad I am to hear that the grace of the god of Mount Mikasa has shown itself so clearly, and that all has come to pass just so.
Yuku hito mo tachi zo wazurau Shikasuga no watari ya tabi no tomari naruramu
Even those passing through find it hard to set off again; is the crossing at Shikasuga, true to its name, where all journeys come to rest?
Mi no usa o omoishi tokeba fuyu no yo mo todokōranu wa namida narikeri
When I unravel the sorrows of my life in thought, even on a winter night the one thing that never freezes and flows on unchecked is my tears.
Kinyo Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mukashi ni mo aranu sugata ni nariyukedo nageki nomi koso omogawari sene
Though I am becoming someone who looks nothing like I did long ago, my grief alone has not changed its face at all.
Saritomo to kaku mayuzumi no itazura ni kokorobosoku mo oinikeru kana
Thinking that surely one day it would come, I kept painting my brows like this, but all for nothing; forlorn, I have grown old.
Kinyo Wakashu - Minamoto no Toshiyori
Kokoro koso yo o ba suteshika maboroshi no sugata mo hito ni wasurarenikeri
It was only my heart that renounced the world, yet even this fleeting, phantom-like form of mine has been forgotten by others.
Kinyo Wakashu - Gyōson
Kusa no ha no nabiku mo matazu tsuyu no mi no okidokoro naku nageku koro kana
Without even waiting for the grass blades to bend in the wind, I, frail as the dew, have nowhere left to settle, and these days I spend in grief.
Chitose made sumamu izumi no soko ni yo mo kage o narabemu to omoishi mo seji
I would never have dreamed that I would come to cast my reflection side by side with yours on the floor of this spring, which will stay clear for a thousand years.
Ujigawa no soko no mikuzu to narinagara nao kumo kakaru yama zo koishiki
Though I have sunk to become like the debris on the floor of the Uji River, still I long for the mountains where the clouds hang.
Sumiwabite ware sae noki no shinobugusa shinobu katagata shigeki yado kana
Weary of dwelling here, even I now leave, but like the longing-fern thick along the eaves, this house is crowded with things to remember.
Kinyo Wakashu - Suo no Naishi
Kikiwataru Mitarashigawa no mizu kiyomi soko no kokoro o kyō zo mirubeki
The waters of the Mitarashi River, of which I have long heard, are so clear that today I shall surely see to the very depths of your heart.
Kinyo Wakashu - Tsumori no Kunimoto