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- Kokin Wakashu
Itsuwari to omou mono kara imasara ni ta ga makoto o ka ware wa tanomamu
I know your words are lies, and yet, after all this time, whose sincerity could I trust instead?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Akikaze ni yama no konoha no utsuroeba hito no kokoro mo ikaga to zo omou
As the autumn wind turns the leaves on the mountain, I cannot help wondering whether your heart, too, will change.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei
Semi no koe kikeba kanashi na natsugoromo usuku ya hito no naramu to omoeba
How sad it is to hear the cicadas sing, for I cannot help thinking that, like a summer robe, your love for me may be growing thin.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Utsusemi no yo no hitogoto no shigekereba wasurenu mono no karenu beranari
The gossip of this fleeting world has grown so thick that, though I do not forget you, it seems we are bound to drift apart.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Akade koso omowamu naka wa hanarename so o dani nochi no wasuregatami ni
Lovers ought to part before they tire of each other; let that, at least, be a keepsake to remember in the days to come.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Wasurenamu to omou kokoro no tsuku kara ni arishi yori ke ni mazu zo koishiki
The moment I resolve to forget you, I find myself longing for you first of all, more than ever before.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Wasurenamu ware o uramu na hototogisu hito no aki ni wa awamu to mo sezu
Do not resent me for choosing to forget, O cuckoo—just as you will not stay to meet the autumn, I will not wait until he has wearied of me.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Taezu yuku asuka no kawa no yodominaba kokoro aru to ya hito no omowamu
If the ever-flowing Asuka River were to come to a standstill, would people suspect some hidden reason? Should my visits falter, would you think my heart had turned elsewhere?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yodogawa no yodomu to hito wa miruramedo nagarete fukaki kokoro aru mono o
People may think me stagnant, like the Yodo River true to its name; yet beneath, my heart flows on, deep and unchanging.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Sokoi naki fuchi ya wa sawagu yamakawa no asaki se ni koso adanami wa tate
Does a bottomless pool ever churn? It is in the shallow rapids of a mountain stream that the restless waves rise.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei
Kurenai no hatsuhanazome no iro fukaku omoishi kokoro ware wasureme ya
Like cloth dyed deep crimson with the first safflower blooms of the year, the heart with which I loved you runs deep—how could I ever forget it?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Michinoku no shinobu mojizuri tare yue ni midaremu to omou ware naranaku ni
Like the tangled pattern of Shinobu cloth from far Michinoku, my heart is in disarray—but for whose sake? I am not one to be thrown into turmoil by anyone but you.
Kokin Wakashu - Minamoto no Tōru
Omou yori ika ni seyo to ka akikaze ni nabiku asaji no iro koto ni naru
I love you so—what more do you want of me? Like the low reeds bending in the autumn wind, your heart has tired of me and changed its color.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Chiji no iro ni utsuroramedo shiranaku ni kokoro shi aki no momiji naraneba
Your heart may be changing into a thousand colors, but I cannot tell, for a heart is not like the autumn leaves we can see.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ama no sumu sato no shirube ni aranaku ni uramimu to nomi hito no iuramu
I am no guide to the village where the fisherfolk live, so why do you keep saying you will "see the bay"—that you resent me?
Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Komachi
Kumoribi no kage to shi nareru ware nareba me ni koso miene mi oba hanarezu
I have become like a shadow on a cloudy day: though you cannot see me, I never leave your side.
Kokin Wakashu - Shimotsuke no Omune