classic waka stream

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  • Masukagami

Yamazakura minenimoonimo ueokan minuyonoharuo hitoyashinobuto

I will plant mountain cherries on every ridge and spur, wondering whether in a spring I shall never see someone will remember.

Masukagami - Fujiwara no Kintsune

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Kuchihatsuru oikinisakeru hanazakura miniyosoetemo kyōwakazasan

Blossoms on a tree rotting quite away: even if I must liken myself to it, today I shall set them in my hair.

Masukagami - Fujiwara no Saneuji

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Kokonoeno ōuchiyamano ikanaran kagirimoshirazu tsumoruyukikana

How must it be now within the ninefold walls, on the hill of the great enclosure? The snow piles up without any limit.

Masukagami - Fujiwara no Saneuji

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Kokonoeno uchinonoyukini atotsukete harukanichiyono michiomirukana

Setting my footprints on the snow of the Uchino field within the ninefold walls, I see far off the road of a thousand ages.

Masukagami - Shosho no Naishi

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Tsutaekiku hijirinoyoyono atoomite furukiouutsusu michinarawanan

Look on the traces of those sagely reigns we know only by report, and learn the way that brings what is old into the present.

Masukagami - Fujiwara no Saneuji

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Shirazarishi mukashiniimaya kaerinan kashikokiyoyono atonarainaba

Might I now return to an age I never knew, if I were to learn the traces of those illustrious reigns?

Masukagami - Go-Saga In

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Iwashimizu kogakuretarishi inishieo omoiizureba sumukokorokana

Iwashimizu: when I remember the days when I lay hidden in the shade of the trees, my heart runs clear.

Masukagami - Go-Saga In

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Iromokamo kasanetenioe umenohana kokonoeninaru yadonoshirushini

Bloom richer still in colour and in scent, plum blossoms, as a sign that this house has become the ninefold court.

Masukagami - Go-Saga In

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Iwaioku hajimetokyōo matsugaeno chitosenokageni sumeruikemizu

Counting today as the first of the blessings we lay up, the water of the pond lies clear in the thousand-year shade of the pine bough.

Masukagami - Fujiwara no Saneuji

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Kageutsusu matsunimochiyono iromiete kyōsumisomuru yadonoikemizu

The pine that casts its reflection shows the colour of a thousand ages, and today the water of this house's pond begins to run clear.

Masukagami - Go-Saga In

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Irokaenu tokiwanomatsuno kagesoete chiyoniyachiyoni sumeruikemizu

The evergreen pine, whose colour never changes, adds its shadow, and for a thousand and eight thousand ages the pond water lies clear.

Masukagami - Dainagon no Naishi

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Kawabuneno sashiteizukuka waganaranu tabitowaiwaji yadotosadamen

Where is the river boat poling to? This place is not foreign to me. I will not call it travel; I shall make it my home.

Masukagami - Go-Saga In

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Tsunokunino ashinoshitaneno ikanareba naminishiorete midaregaonaru

How is it that the under-roots of the reeds of Tsu droop under the waves and look so tangled?

Masukagami - Ben no Naishi

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Tsunokunino ashinoshitaneno midarewabi kokoromonamini ukitefurukana

Tangled and weary as the under-roots of the reeds of Tsu, my heart too floats upon the waves, and so the days pass.

Masukagami - Chunagon no Naishi

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Ayamegusa sokoshiranumano nagakineni fukakitoiuya yomogiunotsuyu

The sweet-flag's long root in a marsh no one has sounded: is that what is called deep—this dew on the mugwort?

Masukagami - Ben no Naishi

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Ayamegusa sokoshiranumano nagakineo fukakikokoroni ikagakuraben

How could the long root of the sweet-flag, in a marsh no one has sounded, ever be measured against the depth of my heart?

Masukagami - Sanjo Kinchika

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