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- Shui Wakashu
Ikade ka wa shirasesomu beki hito shirezu omou kokoro no iro ni idezu wa
How could I ever begin to let you know, if the heart that loves you in secret did not show itself in my face?
Shui Wakashu - Kunimasa
Ikade ka wa kaku omou chō koto o dani hitozute narade kimi ni shirasemu
How can I let you know, if only that I love you so, not through another's words but myself?
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Atsutada
Ana koishi hatsuka ni hito o mizu no awa no kiekaeru tomo shirasete shigana
Ah, how I long for her! I saw her only for a moment; I wish I could let her know that I am fading away like foam upon the water.
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Saneyori
Nagakaraji to omou kokoro wa mizu no awa ni yosouru hito no tanomarenu kana
I feel this love will not last long, for one who likens his heart to foam upon the water is not someone I can trust.
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kuwako
Minato izuru ama no obune no ikarinawa kurushiki mono to koi o shirinuru
Like the anchor rope the fishermen haul in as their small boat leaves the harbor, I have learned that love is a painful thing.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ōigawa kudasu ikada no minaresao minarenu hito mo koishikarikeri
Like the well-worn pole of a raft sent down the Ōi River, worn to the water, so too one I am not yet used to seeing is someone I long for.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Minasoko ni ouru tamamo no uchinabiki kokoro o yosete kouru kono koro
Like the jewel-weed growing on the river bed, swaying with the current, I lean my heart toward you in longing these days.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Oto ni nomi kikitsuru koi o hito shirezu tsurenaki hito ni narainuru kana
Love, which I had only heard of by report, I have now learned in secret, taught by one who is cold to me.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ika ni semu inochi wa kagiri aru mono o koi wa wasurezu hito wa tsurenashi
What am I to do? My life has its limit, yet I cannot forget my love, and she remains so cold.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yamabiko mo kotaenu yama no yobukodori ware hitori nomi naki ya wataramu
Like the calling bird in a mountain where not even an echo answers, must I go on crying all alone?
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yamabiko wa kimi ni mo nitaru kokoro kana waga koe seneba otozure mo sezu
How like you is the echo's heart! Unless I raise my voice, it sends back no sound and never comes to call.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ashihiki no yamashita toyomi yuku mizu no toki zo to mo naku koiwataru kana
Like the water that flows roaring at the foot of the mountain, I go on longing without pause, at every hour.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ika ni shite shibashi wasuren inochi dani araba au yo no ari mo koso sure
Somehow I would forget this love, if only for a while; for if I but stay alive, a night of meeting may yet come.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Nukimidaru namida no tama mo tomaru ya to tama no o bakari awamu to iwanan
So that the tears scattering like jewels slipped from their string might stop, I wish you would say we could meet, if only for the brief length of a jewel's cord.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Iwa no ue ni ouru komatsu mo hikitsuredo nao negataki wa kimi ni zo arikeru
I have pulled up even the little pine rooted on a rock, yet harder still to uproot, and harder still to lie with, is you.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tanabata mo au yo arikeri Amanogawa kono watari ni wa wataru se mo nashi
Even the Weaver Maid has her night of meeting; but across this River of Heaven, here where I am, there is no shallow ford to cross.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet