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- Kokin Wakashu
Hito o omou kokoro wa kari ni aranedomo kumoi ni nomi mo nakiwataru kana
My heart that longs for her is not a wild goose, yet like the geese crying as they cross the distant sky, I go on weeping, far out of reach.
Kokin Wakashu - Kiyohara no Fukayabu
Akikaze ni kakinasu koto no koe ni sae hakanaku hito no koishikaruramu
Even in the sound of a koto strummed in the autumn wind, why is it that I long for her so, for no reason at all?
Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine
Makomo karu Yodo no sawamizu ame fureba tsune yori koto ni masaru waga koi
Like the marsh waters of Yodo, where they cut wild rice, which swell when the rain falls, my love grows greater than ever before.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Koenu ma wa Yoshino no yama no sakurabana hitozute ni nomi kikiwataru kana
Until I cross the mountains, I can only hear from others of the cherry blossoms on the hills of Yoshino; so too I hear of you only through others' words.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Tsuyu naranu kokoro o hana ni okisomete kaze fuku goto ni monoomoi zo tsuku
Ever since I set my heart, which is not dew, upon the blossoms, each time the wind blows my troubled thoughts grow.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Waga koi ni Kurabu no yama no sakurabana ma naku chiru tomo kazu wa masaraji
Compared with my love, the cherry blossoms of Mount Kurabu, though they fall without ceasing, could never outnumber my thoughts of you.
Kokin Wakashu - Sakanoue no Koreyuki
Fuyukawa no ue wa kooreru ware nare ya shita ni nagarete koiwataruramu
Am I a winter river, frozen only on the surface? Is that why, flowing underneath, I go on loving you in secret?
Kokin Wakashu - Muneoka no Ōyori
Tagitsu se ni nezashi todomenu ukikusa no ukitaru koi mo ware wa suru kana
Like floating weeds that cannot put down roots in the rushing rapids, I am caught in a drifting, sorrowful love.
Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine
Yoiyoi ni nugite waga nuru karigoromo kakete omowanu toki no ma mo nashi
Like the hunting robe I take off and hang up every night before I sleep, you hang upon my heart; there is not a single moment when I do not think of you.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Azumaji no Saya no Nakayama nakanaka ni nani shika hito o omoisomekemu
Like the pass of Saya no Nakayama on the eastern road, I am caught halfway; why did I ever begin to love you at all?
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Shikitae no makura no shita ni umi wa aredo hito o mirume wa oizu zo arikeru
Though a sea of tears lies beneath my pillow, the seaweed called mirume, the chance to see you, never grows there.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Toshi o hete kienu omoi wa arinagara yoru no tamoto wa nao kōrikeri
Though the fire of love that has burned for years has never gone out, the sleeves I wear at night are still frozen with my tears.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Waga koi wa shiranu yamaji ni aranaku ni mayou kokoro zo wabishikarikeru
My love is not some unknown mountain path, and yet how painful it is, this heart that keeps losing its way.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kurenai no furiidetsutsu naku namida ni wa tamoto nomi koso iro masarikere
Like crimson dye shaken out into water, I cry my heart out, and my tears only make my sleeves grow ever deeper in red.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Shiratama to mieshi namida mo toshi fureba karakurenai ni utsuroinikeri
Even the tears that once looked like white pearls have, with the passing years, turned a deep crimson red.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Natsumushi o nani ka iikemu kokoro kara ware mo omoi ni moenu beranari
Why did I ever speak ill of the summer moths? Now of my own will I too seem about to burn up in the fire of love.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune