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- Kokin Wakashu
Toshi fureba yowai wa oinu shika wa wa aredo
hana o shi mireba mono omoi mo nashi
As the years have passed, I have grown old; yet when I look upon the blossoms, there are no troubled thoughts at all.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Yoshifusa
Yo no naka ni taete sakura no nakariseba
haru no kokoro wa nodokekaramashi
If there were no cherry blossoms at all in this world, then spring’s heart would be calm and untroubled, without the restless pain of their scattering.
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
Ishibashiru tame naku mogana sakurabana
taorite mo komu minu hito no tame
If only there were no rushing, stone-splashing stream; I would pluck the cherry blossoms and come back with them for the one who has not seen them.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mite nomi ya hito ni kataramu sakurabana
te goto ni orite iezuto ni semu
Can I only look at them and speak of them to others? I will pluck these cherry blossoms and take them home as a gift.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Miwataseba yanagi sakura o kokimazete
miyako zo haru no nishiki narikeru
When I look far across the capital, where the green of willows and the crimson of cherry blossoms are intermingled, I see that the capital itself is the brocade of spring.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Iro mo ka mo onaji mukashi ni sakuramedo
toshi furu hito zo aratamarikeru
The cherry blossoms bloom in color and scent just as in the days of old, yet the person who lives through the years has changed.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Tare shi ka motomete oritsuru harugasumi
tachikakusuramu yama no sakura o
Who was it, I wonder, who sought them out and plucked them? The spring haze rose thickly, hiding the mountain cherry blossoms.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Sakurabana sakinikerashi na ashibiki no
yama no kai yori miyuru shirakumo
It seems that the cherry blossoms have bloomed; the white clouds that appear from the mountain ravines must surely be the blossoms themselves.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Miyoshino no yamabe ni sakeru sakurabana
yuki ka to nomi zo ayamatatekeru
The cherry blossoms blooming along the slopes of Mount Yoshino—I mistook them for nothing but snow.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Sakurabana haru kuwawareru toshi dani mo
hito no kokoro ni akare ya wa senu
O cherry blossoms—when spring days abound in a year, will you not at last let the human heart be satisfied?
Kokin Wakashu - Ise
Ada nari to na ni koso tatere sakurabana
toshi ni mare naru hito mo machikeri
Though cherry blossoms are called fickle for falling so swiftly, even they were waiting for you, who come but rarely in a year.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kyō kozu wa asu wa yuki to zo furinamashi
kiezu wa ari tomo hana to mimashi ya
Had you not come today, it would have fallen as snow tomorrow. Even if it had not vanished, could it still be seen as a flower?
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
Chirinureba kouredo shirushi naki mono o
kyō koso sakura oraba oriteme
Once they have fallen, however much one may yearn for them, there is no avail; so today, if I am to pluck the cherry blossoms, I will pluck them.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Oritoraba oshige ni mo aru ka sakurabana
iza yado karite chiru made wa mimu
It would be painful to pluck the cherry blossoms. Let me take lodging here and watch them until they fall.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Sakurairo ni koromo wa fukaku sometekimu
hana no chirinamu nochi no katami ni
I will dye my robes a deep cherry color and wear them, so that when the blossoms fall, they may serve as a keepsake afterward.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Arimasa
Waga yado no hanami gatera ni kuru hito wa
chirinamu nochi zo koishikarubeki
Those who come to my dwelling merely in passing to view the blossoms—when the blossoms have fallen, will they then be missed?
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune