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- Tosa Nikki
Yo no naka ni taete sakura no sakazaraba haru no kokoro wa nodokekaramashi
If there were no cherry blossoms in this world at all, how peaceful our hearts would be in spring.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Chiyo hetaru matsu ni wa aredo inishie no koe no samusa wa kawarazarikeri
These pines have stood a thousand years, yet the cold voice of the wind in their boughs is just as it was long ago.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kimi koite yo o furu yado no ume no hana mukashi no ka ni zo nao nioikeru
In this house that has passed the years longing for its lord, the plum blossoms still breathe out the fragrance of long ago.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Nakarishi mo aritsutsu kaeru hito no ko o arishi mo nakute kuru ga kanashisa
Others who had no children now go home with them, while I, who had a child, come back without her—oh, the sorrow of it.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Sazarenami yosuru aya oba aoyagi no kage no ito shite oru ka to zo miru
The patterns the ripples bring ashore look to me like twill woven with threads drawn from the green willows' reflections.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Hisakata no tsuki ni oitaru katsuragawa soko naru kage mo kawarazarikeri
The Katsura River, named for the laurel that grows on the moon—even the moonlight in its depths has not changed at all.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Amagumo no haruka naritsuru katsuragawa sode o hidete mo watarinuru kana
The Katsura River, once as far away as the clouds in the sky—I have crossed it at last, though it wets my sleeves.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Katsuragawa waga kokoro ni mo kayowanedo onaji fukasa wa nagaru beranari
Katsura River, though you have no bond with my heart, you seem to flow with the very same depth as my feelings.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Umareshi mo kaeranu mono o waga yado ni komatsu no aru o miru ga kanashisa
The child born in this house has not come home, and yet a young pine has sprung up in my garden—how it grieves me to see it.
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki
Mishi hito no matsu no chitose ni mimashikaba tōku kanashiki wakare semashi ya
Had I been able to watch over her for a thousand years, like the pine, would I ever have known so distant and so sad a parting?
Tosa Nikki - Ki no Tsurayuki