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- Kokin Wakashu
Fujigoromo hatsururu ito wa wabibito no namida no tama no o to zo narikeru
The threads fraying from my mourning robe have become the cords that string the beads of tears of one who grieves.
Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine
Asatsuyu no okute no yamada karisome ni ukiyo no naka o omoinuru kana
As the late rice in the mountain fields, wet with morning dew, is soon reaped, I have come to think of this sorrowful world as a thing of fleeting passing.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Sumizome no kimi ga tamoto wa kumo nare ya taezu namida no ame to nomi furu
Are the sleeves of your ink-black mourning robe clouds? Your tears fall from them endlessly, as nothing but rain.
Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine
Ashihiki no yamabe ni ima wa sumizome no koromo no sode wa hiru toki mo nashi
Now I live by the mountains wearing ink-black robes of mourning, and their sleeves never have a moment to dry.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mizu no omo ni shizuku hana no iro sayaka ni mo kimi ga mikage no omohoyuru kana
Just as the colors of the blossoms mirrored deep in the pond's surface are clear and vivid, so your noble form comes vividly to my mind.
Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Takamura
Kusa fukaki kasumi no tani ni kage kakushi teru hi no kureshi kyō ni ya wa aranu
Hiding its light in a hazy valley deep in grass, the shining sun set—was it not on this very day?
Kokin Wakashu - Fun'ya no Yasuhide
Mina hito wa hana no koromo ni narinu nari koke no tamoto yo kawaki dani seyo
I hear that everyone has now changed into bright, flowery robes. O sleeves of my moss-colored habit, at least dry out for me.
Kokin Wakashu - Henjō
Uchitsuke ni sabishiku mo aru ka momijiba mo nushi naki yado wa iro nakarikeri
How suddenly lonely it has become. Even the autumn leaves, at a house that has lost its master, have no color to show.
Kokin Wakashu - Minamoto no Yoshiari
Hototogisu kesa naku koe ni odorokeba kimi o wakareshi toki ni zo arikeru
Startled by the cuckoo's cry this morning, I realize that it is the very season when I parted from you forever.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Hana yori mo hito koso ada ni narinikere izure o saki ni koimu to ka mishi
It is people, even more than blossoms, who have proved so fleeting. Did I ever imagine which of the two I would be longing for first?
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Mochiyuki
Iro mo ka mo mukashi no kosa ni nioedomo uekemu hito no kage zo koishiki
Though the color and fragrance glow as richly as in days gone by, it is the figure of the one who must have planted this tree that I long for.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kimi masade kemuri taenishi Shiogama no ura sabishiku mo mie wataru kana
Now that you are gone, the salt-fire smoke of Shiogama has died away, and the whole bay looks desolate to my heart.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kimi ga ueshi hitomura susuki mushi no ne no shigeki nobe to mo narinikeru kana
The single clump of pampas grass you planted has become a wild field, overgrown and loud with the voices of insects.
Kokin Wakashu - Miharu no Arisuke
Koto naraba koto no ha sae mo kienanamu mireba namida no taki masarikeri
If it must be so, I wish that even his words would vanish along with him. For when I look at them, the waterfall of my tears only grows.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tomonori
Naki hito no yado ni kayowaba hototogisu kakete ne ni nomi naku to tsugenamu
Cuckoo, if you travel to the dwelling of the one who has died, tell them that I keep them in my heart and do nothing but weep aloud.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tare miyo to hana sakeru ramu shirakumo no tatsu no to hayaku narinishi mono o
For whom are the flowers blooming, asking to be seen? This place became, long ago, a field where white clouds rise.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet