classic waka stream

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  • Kagero Nikki

Mi no aki o omoi midaruru hana no ue no tsuyu no kokoro wa ieba sara nari

The heart of the dew upon the flower, troubled by thoughts of its own autumn — that goes without saying.

Kagero Nikki - Fujiwara no Kaneie

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Ikani semu yama no ha ni dani todomarade kokoro mo sora ni idemu tsuki o ba

What am I to do with a moon that will not rest even on the ridge, but rises away with its heart already elsewhere?

Kagero Nikki - The Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna

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Hisakata no sora ni kokoro no izu to ieba kage wa soko ni mo tomaru beki kana

If you say that the heart goes out into the wide sky, then surely its light must linger there with you as well.

Kagero Nikki - Fujiwara no Kaneie

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Koto no ha wa chiri mo ya suru to tomeokite kyō wa mikara mo tou ni ya wa aranu

Thinking my words might scatter like leaves, I kept them back. Have I not come today in my own person to ask after you?

Kagero Nikki - Fujiwara no Kaneie

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Chirikite mo toi zo shitemashi koto no ha o kochi wa sabakari fukishi tayori ni

I would have had you ask after me — had the leaves of your words blown here and scattered, carried on that wind that blew so hard.

Kagero Nikki - The Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna

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Kochi to ieba ōsora narishi kaze ni ide tsukete wa towamu atara nadate ni

If you call it the wind that says come here, then let me entrust my asking to that vast, idle wind — and earn nothing but an empty name for it.

Kagero Nikki - Fujiwara no Kaneie

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Chirasaji to oshimi okikeru koto no ha o kinagara dani zo kesa wa towamashi

Those words you grudged and kept back lest they scatter — if you had only carried them here, you might have asked after me with them this morning.

Kagero Nikki - The Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna

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Kotowari no ori to wa miredo sayo fukete kaku wa shigure no furi wa hatsu beki

I grant the errand is a reasonable one; and yet, with the night far gone and the cold rain falling like this, must you go?

Kagero Nikki - The Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna

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Natsuku beki hito mo hanateba michinoku no umaya kagiri ni naramu to suramu

Since you let go even the one who ought to have been tamed, is this to be the end of it, as the road runs out at the last station in Michinoku?

Kagero Nikki - The Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna

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Ware ga na o ofuchi no koma no areba koso natsuku ni tsukanu mi to mo shirareme

It is only because of that colt which bears my name that I am known for one who, tame enough, still will not attach himself to anyone.

Kagero Nikki - Fujiwara no Kaneie

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Komauge ni narimasaritsutsu natsukenu o konawa taezu zo tanomi kinikeru

You grow ever more reluctant to come, and are not to be tamed; and still it was that thin rope, unbroken, on which I relied.

Kagero Nikki - The Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna

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Shirakawa no seki no sekeba ya komauku te amata no hi o ba hikiwataritsuru

Is it the barrier at Shirakawa that holds me back? The going was hard, and I have led so many days across it.

Kagero Nikki - Fujiwara no Kaneie

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Ama no kawa nanuka o chigiru kokoro araba hoshiai bakari no kage o miyo to ya

If you have it in you to pledge a meeting on the seventh by the river of heaven, do you mean that I am to see you only as the stars meet — once in the year?

Kagero Nikki - The Mother of Fujiwara no Michitsuna

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Midareito no tsukasa hitotsu ni narite shimo kuru koto no nado taenitaruramu

As one reels tangled thread: now that we belong to a single office, how has it come about that your reeling in — your coming — has stopped?

Kagero Nikki

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Tayu to ieba ito zo kanashiki kimi ni yori onaji tsukasa ni kuru kai mo naku

To hear you say it has ceased is a grief drawn out like thread; and it was through you that I came to that same office — to no purpose at all.

Kagero Nikki - Fujiwara no Kaneie

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Natsuhiki no ito kotowari ya futame mime yori ariku ma ni hodo no furu kamo

Summer-drawn thread, and reason enough, I grant you; but while you go twisting your way from one eye to the next, two and three, the time itself runs out.

Kagero Nikki

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