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- Gosen Wakashu
Tsu no kuni no naniwa tatamaku oshimi koso sukumo taku hi no shita ni kogarure
Like Naniwa in the land of Tsu, it is because I would grieve to have my name spread abroad that I burn in secret beneath, like a fire of smoldering reeds.
Gosen Wakashu - Princess Ki
Yumeji ni mo yado kasu hito no aramaseba nezame ni tsuyu wa harawazaramashi
If only there were someone who would give me lodging even on the path of dreams, I would not have to brush away the dew when I woke.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Namidagawa nagasu nezame mo aru mono o harau bakari no tsuyu ya nani nari
There are nights I wake shedding a river of tears. What, then, is dew that can simply be brushed away?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mirume karu kata zo ōmi ni nashi to kiku tamamo o sae ya ama wa kazukanu
They say there is no shore in Ōmi, the land of meeting, where mirume weed—a chance to see you—can be gathered. But will the fisher not dive even for jewel-like seaweed?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Na nomi shite au koto nami no shigeki ma ni itsu ka tamamo o ama wa kazukan
It is "meeting" in name only, with no chance to meet, and while the waves rise so thickly, when could any fisher dive for jewel-like seaweed?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kazuragi ya kumeji no hashi ni araba koso omou kokoro o nakazora ni seme
Only if I were the bridge of Kumeji on Mount Kazuragi, left unfinished, would I leave my loving heart suspended halfway, in midair.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kakurenu ni sumu oshidori no koe taezu nakedo kai naki mono ni zo arikeru
Like the mandarin ducks living in a hidden marsh whose cries never cease, I weep without end, yet it has all been in vain.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Morosuke
Tsukubane no mine yori otsuru minanogawa koi zo tsumorite fuchi to narikeru
Like the Minano River, falling from the peak of Mount Tsukuba and gathering into a deep pool, my love has piled up little by little until it has become as deep as that pool.
Gosen Wakashu - Emperor Yōzei
Karigane no kumoi haruka ni kikoeshi wa ima wa kagiri no koe ni zo arikeru
The cry of the wild geese I heard far off among the clouds—it was a voice saying this was the end.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ima wa tote yukikaerinuru koe naraba oikaze nite mo kikoemashi ya wa
If it were a voice saying "This is the end" as it flew away home, would it ever have reached you, even carried on a following wind?
Gosen Wakashu - Kanramu Ou
Kokoro kara ukitaru fune ni norisomete hitohi mo nami ni nurenu hi zo naki
By my own choosing I set out in a drifting, sorrowful boat, and since then there has not been a single day when I was not soaked by the waves.
Gosen Wakashu - Ono no Komachi
Wasurenan to omou kokoro no yasukaraba tsurenaki hito o uramimashi ya wa
If my heart, resolving to forget, could do so easily, would I resent someone so cold to me?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Chihayaburu kami hikikakete chikaiteshi koto mo yuyushiku aragau na yume
We swore by the mighty gods, and that is a dreadful thing, so you must never, ever go back on your word.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Shigemoto
Omoi ni wa ware koso irite madowarure ayanaku kimi ya suzushikaru beki
It is I who have gone into the fire of longing and am lost in torment. Why, for no reason at all, should you alone stay cool?
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Morosuke
Aratama no toshi mo koenuru matsuyama no nami no kokoro wa ikaga naruramu
The year has already passed over. And your heart, like the waves said to cross the Pine Hill of Sue—what has become of it?
Gosen Wakashu - Daughter of Prince Motohira
Waga tame wa itodo asaku ya narinuran nonaka no shimizu fukasa masareba
Has your love for me grown shallower still, I wonder, now that the spring in the middle of the fields—your first wife—has grown deeper?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet