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- Manyoshu
Amatobu ya tori ni mo ga mo ya miyako made okuri mōshite tobikaeru mono
If only I were a bird that flies through the sky! I could escort you all the way to the capital and fly back again.
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura (attributed)
Hitomone no urabure oru ni tatsutayama mima chikazukaba wasurashinamu ka
All of us here are sunk in gloom, yet when your horse draws near Mount Tatsuta, will you forget us?
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura (attributed)
Iitsutsu mo nochi koso shirame tonoshiku mo sabushikeme ya mo kimi imasazu shite
Whatever we say now, we will only understand later. Could it be just a little lonely once you are gone?
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura (attributed)
Yorozuyo ni imashi tamaite ame no shita mōshi tamawane mikado sarazute
May you live for ten thousand ages and counsel the throne on all the affairs of the realm, never leaving the court.
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura (attributed)
Amazakaru hina ni itsutose sumaitsutsu miyako no teburi wasurae ni keri
Living five years in this countryside as far off as the sky, I have quite forgotten the ways of the capital.
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura
Kaku nomi ya ikizuki oramu aratama no kieyuku toshi no kagiri shirazute
Must I go on sighing like this forever, not knowing when the coming and passing years will end?
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura
A ga nushi no mitama tamaite haru saraba nara no miyako ni mesage tamawane
My lord, grant me your favor, and when spring comes, please summon me up to the capital at Nara.
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura
Oto ni kiki me ni wa imada mizu sayohime ga hire furiki tou kimi matsurayama
I have heard of it, but have never seen with my own eyes Mount Matsura, where Sayohime, waiting for her lord, is said to have waved her scarf.
Manyoshu - Prince Mishima
Kuni tōki michi no nagate o ōhoshiku kyō ya suginamu kotodoi mo naku
Far from home on this long road, heavy-hearted, am I to pass away today without exchanging a single word with my parents?
Manyoshu - Asada no Yasu
Asatsuyu no keyasuki a ga mi hitokuni ni sugikatenu kamo oya no me o hori
My life is as fleeting as the morning dew, yet I cannot bring myself to die in this strange land, so much do I long to see my parents.
Manyoshu - Asada no Yasu
Tarachishi no haha ga me mizute ōhoshiku izuchi mukite ka a ga wakaruramu
Without seeing my mother's face again, heavy-hearted, which way should I turn as I take leave of this world?
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura
Tsune shiranu michi no nagate o kurekure to ika ni ka yukamu karite wa nashi ni
Down a long road I have never known, with a darkened heart, how am I to go, with no provisions for the journey?
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura
Ie ni arite haha ga torimiba nagusamuru kokoro wa aramashi shinaba shinu tomo
If I were at home with my mother tending me, my heart would have found some comfort, even if I had to die.
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura
Idete yukishi hi o kazoetsutsu kyō kyō to a o matasuramu chichihahara wa mo
Counting the days since I left home, asking "Will it be today? Today?"—how my father and mother must be waiting for me!
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura
Hitoyo ni wa futatabi mienu chichihaha o okite ya nagaku a ga wakarenamu
Must I leave behind my father and mother, whom one can never meet twice in a lifetime, and part from them forever?
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura
Yo no naka o ushi to yasashi to omoedomo tobitachi kanetsu tori ni shi araneba
I find this world wretched and shameful, yet I cannot fly away from it, for I am not a bird.
Manyoshu - Yamanoue no Okura