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- Gosen Wakashu
Tomokakumo iu koto no ha no mienu kana izura wa tsuyu no kakaridokoro wa
Not a word of any kind comes from you. Where, then, is the leaf on which the dew might rest?
Gosen Wakashu - Hon'in no Ukyō
Wabibito no sohotsu chō naru namidagawa oritachite koso nurewatarikere
Into the River of Tears, where those who suffer in love are said to be soaked through, I have waded in myself, and so I go on drenched.
Gosen Wakashu - Tachibana no Toshinaka
Fuchise to mo kokoro mo shirazu namidagawa ori ya tatsu beki sode no nururu ni
I cannot tell whether this River of Tears runs deep or shallow, nor what lies in your heart—should I wade into it, when my sleeves would only be soaked?
Gosen Wakashu - Taifu
Kokoromi ni nao oritatamu namidagawa ureshiki se ni mo nagare au ya to
Just to try, I will wade into this River of Tears all the same—who knows, its current may carry me to some joyful shallows where we meet.
Gosen Wakashu - Tachibana no Toshinaka
Kakarikeru hito no kokoro o shiratsuyu no okeru mono to mo tanomikeru kana
Not knowing that hers was such a heart, I trusted that it would stay with me, as the white dew settles and remains.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Atsutada
Uguisu no kumoi ni wabite naku koe o haru no saga to zo ware wa kikitsuru
The warbler's voice, crying in sorrow far off in the sky—I heard it only as spring's own nature.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Akitada
Kaku bakari tsune naki yo to wa shirinagara hito o haruka ni nani tanomiken
I knew well how inconstant this world can be—why, then, did I put my trust in her so far into the future?
Gosen Wakashu - Taira no Tokimochi
Waga kado no hitomura susuki karikawan kimi ga tenare no koma mo konu kana
I would cut the clump of pampas grass by my gate to feed your horse, yet even your trusty steed does not come.
Gosen Wakashu - Elder Sister of Ono no Komachi
Yo o umi no awa to kienuru mi ni shi areba uramuru koto zo kazu nakarikeru
Weary of the world, I am like foam on the sea that vanishes away, and so even my resentments are not worth counting.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Nakahira
Watatsumi to tanomeshi koto mo asenureba ware zo waga mi no ura wa uramuru
You made me trust that your love was as deep as the sea, but now that promise has grown shallow, and it is I who resent my own fate.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Azumaji no Sano no funabashi kakete nomi omoiwataru o shiru hito no naki
Like the floating bridge of Sano on the eastern road, I keep you always in my heart and go on loving, and yet no one knows of it.
Gosen Wakashu - Minamoto no Hitoshi
Fushite nuru yumeji ni dani mo awanu mi wa nao asamashiki utsutsu to zo omou
Lying down to sleep, I cannot meet you even on the paths of dreams, and so I think this must be, after all, a miserable waking world.
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Haseo
Ama no to o akenu akenu to iinashite soranaki shitsuru tori no koe kana
"Heaven's door has opened, the night has broken," it kept insisting—how false it was, that cock's crowing.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yomosugara nurete wabitsuru karakoromo Ausakayama ni michimadoi shite
All night long my fine robe was drenched and I was miserable, for I lost my way on the Hill of Meeting.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Omoedomo ayanashi to nomi iwarureba yoru no nishiki no kokochi koso sure
Though I love you, I am told only that it makes no sense, and so I feel like brocade worn in the dark of night, seen by no one.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Oto ni nomi kikikoshi Miwa no yama yori mo sugi no kazu o ba ware zo mienishi
More often than the cedars of Mount Miwa, which I have known only by rumor, I have come to show myself at your door—as many times as there are cedars.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet