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- Manyoshu
Wasuregusa waga shitahimo ni tsuketaredo shiko no shikokusa koto ni shi arikeri
I tied the grass of forgetting to the cord of my undergarment, but that wretched, worthless weed turned out to be nothing but a name.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Hito mo naki kuni mo aranu ka wagimoko to tazusawari yukite taguite oramu
If only there were a land without people; I would go there hand in hand with my beloved and live close beside her.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Tama naraba te ni mo makamu o utsusemi no yo no hito nareba te ni makikatashi
If you were a jewel I would wear you wound around my wrist, but since you are a person of this world, I cannot bind you to my hand.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Ōiratsume
Awamu yo wa itsu mo aramu o nani su to ka sono yoi aite koto no shigeki mo
There would surely have been other nights to meet; why did we meet on that one night, that now the gossip is so thick?
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Ōiratsume
Waga na wa mo china no iona ni tachinu tomo kimi ga na tataba oshimi koso nake
My own name may be bandied about a thousand or five hundred times, but if your name were talked of, I would weep for it.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Ōiratsume
Ima shi wa shi na no oshikeku mo ware wa nashi imo ni yorite wa chitabi tatsu tomo
Now I no longer care about my good name; for your sake, let it be talked of a thousand times.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Utsusemi no yo ya mo futayuku nani su to ka imo ni awazute waga hitori nemu
Does this fleeting life come around twice? Why then should I sleep alone without meeting you?
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Waga omoi kakute arazu wa tama ni mo ga makoto mo imo ga te ni makarenamu
Rather than suffer my love like this, I wish I were a jewel; then I would truly be wound around your wrist.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Kasugayama kasumi tanabiki kokoroguku tereru tsukuyo ni hitori kamo nemu
Haze trails over Mount Kasuga, and on this night of hazy moonlight that weighs upon my heart, must I sleep alone?
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Ōiratsume
Tsukuyo ni wa kado ni idetachi yūke toi ashiura o zo seshi yukamaku o hori
On moonlit nights I stood at my gate, asked the evening omens, and even read the signs in my footsteps, longing to go to you.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Kanikaku ni hito wa iu tomo wakasaji no nochise no yama no nochi mo awamu kimi
Let people say what they will; like Mount Nochise on the road to Wakasa, whose name means "later," we shall meet later, my love.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Ōiratsume
Yo no naka no kurushiki mono ni arikerashi koi ni aezute shinubeki omoeba
Love must be the most painful thing in all the world, when I think that I may die, unable to bear it.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Sakanoue no Ōiratsume
Nochiseyama nochi mo awamu to omoe koso shinubeki mono o kyō made mo ikere
Like Mount Nochise, "later," it is because I think that we shall meet later that I have lived until today, though I might well have died.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Koto nomi o nochi mo awamu to nemokoro ni ware o tanomete awazaramu kamo
With words alone you have tenderly promised we shall meet later and made me trust you; will you not meet me after all?
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Ime no ai wa kurushikarikeri odorokite kakisaguredomo te ni mo fureneba
Meeting you in dreams is painful; when I wake with a start and grope for you, there is nothing to touch.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Hitoe nomi imo ga musubamu obi o sura mie musububeku waga mi wa narinu
A sash my love would tie with a single turn, I could now wind three times around me, so thin have I become.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi