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- Manyoshu
Aga koi wa chibiki no iwa o nana bakari kubi ni kakemu mo kami no manimani
My love is as heavy as seven boulders that take a thousand men to haul, hung around my neck, yet I will bear it as the gods decree.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Yū saraba yado ake makete are matamu ime ni aimi ni komu to iu hito o
When evening comes, I will open my door and wait for her who says she will come to see me in my dreams.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Asayoi ni mimu toki sae ya wagimoko ga miredo minu goto nao koishikemu
Even when I see my beloved morning and evening, it will be as though I had not seen her, and I will long for her still.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Ikeru yo ni ware wa imada mizu koto taete kaku omoshiroku nueru fukuro wa
Never in all my life have I seen anything like it: a pouch sewn so exquisitely it is beyond words.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Wagimoko ga katami no koromo shita ni kite tada ni au made wa ware nukame ya mo
I wear beneath my clothes the robe my beloved gave me as a keepsake; would I take it off before we meet face to face?
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Koishinamu soko mo oyaji zo nani semu ni hitome hitogoto kochitami waga semu
Whether I die of love or of gossip, it is all the same; why should I fret over watching eyes and wagging tongues?
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Ime ni dani mieba koso arame kaku bakari miezu shi aru wa koite shine to ka
If you would at least appear in my dreams, that would be something; but not to appear at all, is that telling me to die of longing?
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Omoitae wabinishi mono o nakanaka ni nani ka kurushiku aimisomekemu
I had given up hope and sunk in sorrow; why, then, did we begin to meet again, only to bring such pain?
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Aimite wa ikka mo henu o kokodaku mo kurui ni kurui omōyuru kamo
Not many days have passed since we met, yet I think of you so wildly, madly, again and again.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Kaku bakari omokage ni nomi omōeba ika ni ka mo semu hitome shigekute
If you appear to me only as an image in my mind like this, what am I to do, when there are so many eyes watching?
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Aimite wa shimashi mo koi wa nagimu ka to omoedo iyoyo koimasarikeri
I thought that once we met my love might calm for a while, but it has only grown stronger than ever.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Yo no hodoro waga idete kureba wagimoko ga omoerishiku shi omokage ni miyu
When I came away in the half-light before dawn, the look of sorrow on my beloved's face rose up before my eyes.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Yo no hodoro idetsutsu kuraku tabi maneku nareba aga mune tachiyaku gotoshi
Now that I have so often come away in the half-light before dawn, my heart feels as if it were being cut and burned.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi
Yoso ni ite koureba kurushi wagimoko o tsugite aimimu kotohakari seyo
It is hard to long for you from afar; my dear sister, think of some way that we can go on meeting.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tamura no Ōiratsume
Tōku araba wabite mo aramu o sato chikaku ari to kikitsutsu minu ga subenasa
If you were far away, I could bear it, though sadly; but to hear you are in a village close by and still not see you is more than I can stand.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tamura no Ōiratsume
Shirakumo no tanabiku yama no takadaka ni aga omou imo o mimu yoshi mo ga mo
Like a lofty mountain where white clouds trail, I stand on tiptoe longing for you, my dear; if only there were some way to see you.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tamura no Ōiratsume