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- Kokin Wakashu
Mitsu shio no nagare hiruma o aigatami mirume no ura ni yoru o koso mate
Through the daylight hours, while the tide ebbs, it is hard to meet, so at the bay where sea-pine drifts in, I wait for night to fall.
Kokin Wakashu - Kiyohara no Fukayabu
Shirakawa no shirazu tomo iwaji soko kiyomi nagarete yoyo ni sumamu to omoeba
Like the White River whose name echoes "not knowing," I will never say I do not know you; for as its clear bed flows on and stays pure through the ages, I mean to live with you forever.
Kokin Wakashu - Taira no Sadabumi
Shita ni nomi koureba kurushi tama no o no taete midaremu hito na togame so
To love only in secret is agony; if, like beads scattering when their string snaps, I break down in disarray, let no one blame me.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Waga koi o shinobikanete wa ashihiki no yamatachibana no iro ni idenubeshi
When I can no longer hide my love, it will surely show its color, just as the berries of the mountain orange turn bright red.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Ōkata wa waga na mo minato kogiidenamu yo o umibeta ni mirume sukunashi
So be it, then: let my name, too, row out from the harbor for everyone to know; for weary of the world, here by the sea, the sea-pine of our meetings is so scarce.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Makura yori mata shiru hito mo naki koi o namida sekiaezu morashitsuru kana
It was a love no one knew but my pillow, yet unable to hold back my tears, I have let it spill out for all to see.
Kokin Wakashu - Taira no Sadabumi
Kaze fukeba nami utsu kishi no matsu nare ya ne ni arawarete nakinuberanari
Am I like a pine on the shore where the waves crash whenever the wind blows? My roots laid bare, I feel I must break into sobs.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ike ni sumu na o oshidori no mizu o asami kakuru to suredo arawarenikeri
Like a mandarin duck in a pond whose water is too shallow to hide in, I tried to conceal my love, grudging my name, yet it has come to light.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Au koto wa tama no o bakari na no tatsu wa yoshino no kawa no tagitsu se no goto
Our meetings last no longer than a thread of beads is short, yet the rumors about us rise like the roaring rapids of the Yoshino River.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Muratori no tachinishi waga na imasara ni kotonashibu tomo shirushi arame ya
My name has risen like a flock of birds taking wing all at once; now, even if I pretend that nothing happened, what good would it possibly do?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kimi ni yori waga na wa hana ni harugasumi no ni mo yama ni mo tachimichinikeri
Because of you, my name has blossomed into rumor and, like the haze of spring, has risen to fill the fields and the hills.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Shiru to ieba makura dani sede neshi mono o chiri naranu na no sora ni tatsuramu
They say the pillow knows our secrets, so I slept without even a pillow; why, then, does my name, which is not dust, rise up into the sky?
Kokin Wakashu - Ise
Michinoku no asaka no numa no hanakatsumi katsu miru hito ni koi ya wataramu
Like the katsumi blooming in the marsh of Asaka in far Michinoku, I see you even now—and yet must I go on yearning for you all the same?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Aimizu wa koishiki koto mo nakaramashi oto ni zo hito o kiku bekarikeru
Had we never met and loved, I would not know this longing. I should have known of you only through what others said.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Isonokami furu no nakamichi nakanaka ni mizu wa koishi to omowamashi ya wa
Like the middle road of Furu in Isonokami, these half-measures undo me: had I never seen you at all, would I have yearned for you so? Surely not.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kimi tēba mimare mizumare fuji no ne no mezurashige naku moyuru waga koi
Where you are concerned, whether we meet or not, my love burns on like the smoke of Mount Fuji—so constant that there is nothing new in it at all.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Tadayuki