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- Kokin Wakashu
Kimi ga na mo waga na mo tateji naniwa naru mitsu tomo iu na aiki tomo iwaji
Let us raise no rumor of your name or mine. Do not say you saw me, as at the port of Mitsu in Naniwa; nor will I say we met, as the net-haulers say there.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Natorigawa seze no mumoregi arawareba ika ni semu to ka aimisomekemu
If our love should surface like the sunken logs in the shallows of the Natori River, what did we ever mean to do when we first began to meet?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yoshinogawa mizu no kokoro wa hayaku tomo taki no oto ni wa tateji to zo omou
However swift my heart may run, like the waters of the Yoshino River, I am resolved not to let it roar aloud like the rapids for all to hear.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Koishiku wa shita ni o omoe murasaki no nezuri no koromo iro ni izu na yume
If you long for me, keep it hidden deep in your heart; never let it show, like the vivid color of a robe dyed with purple gromwell root.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hanasusuki ho ni idete koiba na o oshimi shita yū himo no musubooretsutsu
If I let my love show like pampas grass putting forth its plumes, I would regret the rumors, so my heart stays knotted, like the sash tied beneath my robes.
Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Harukaze
Omou doshi hitori hitori ga koishinaba tare ni yosoete fujigoromo kimu
If one of us who love each other were to die of longing, in whose name could the other, keeping our secret, put on the robes of mourning?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Naki kouru namida ni sode no sohochinaba nugikae gatera yoru koso wa kime
If my sleeves were soaked through with tears of weeping for you, then, while changing out of them, I would wear mourning only in the dark of night.
Kokin Wakashu - Tachibana no Kiyoki
Utsutsu ni wa samo koso arame yume ni sae hitome o yoku to miru ga wabishisa
In waking life, I suppose it cannot be helped; but to see you avoiding others' eyes even in my dreams, how desolate that is.
Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Komachi
Kagiri naki omoi no mama ni yoru mo komu yumeji o sae ni hito wa togameji
Following my boundless longing, I will come to you by night; surely no one will reproach me for walking the paths of dreams.
Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Komachi
Yumeji ni wa ashi mo yasumezu kayoedomo utsutsu ni hitome mishi koto wa arazu
On the paths of dreams I go to you without ever resting my feet, yet in waking life I have never once had even a glimpse of you.
Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Komachi
Omoedomo hitome tsutsumi no takakereba kawa to minagara e koso watarane
Though I long for you, my fear of others' eyes rises as high as an embankment, so that though the river lies before me, I cannot cross it.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tagitsu se no hayaki kokoro o nani shi ka mo hitome tsutsumi no seki todomuramu
Why is it that the embankment of others' eyes dams up my heart, which races like a rushing torrent?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kurenai no iro ni wa ideji kakurenu no shita ni kayoite koi wa shinu tomo
I will not let my love show like crimson dye; like water flowing beneath a hidden marsh, I will keep it secret, even if I die of longing.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Fuyu no ike ni sumu nihodori no tsure mo naku soko ni kayou to hito ni shirasu na
Like the grebe that lives in the winter pond and dives, all alone, to its depths, do not let anyone know that you secretly come to me there.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Sasa no ha ni oku hatsushimo no yo o samumi shimi wa tsuku tomo iro ni ideme ya
Like the first frost that freezes on the bamboo leaves in the cold of night, though my love may soak deep into me, would I ever let it show its color? Never.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Yamashina no otowa no yama no oto ni dani hito no shirubeku waga koime kamo
Like the name of Otowa Mountain in Yamashina, whose "sound" is its name, would I ever love in a way that even a rumor of it reached others?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet