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- Shui Wakashu
Minahito no kasa ni nuu chō arimasuge arite no nochi mo awamu to zo omou
Like the Arima sedge that everyone is said to sew into hats, I mean to live on, and to meet you even if it is only later.
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Ikaho no ya Ikaho no numa no ika ni shite koishiki hito o ima hitome mimu
At Ikaho, at Ikaho Marsh—how, somehow, might I see the one I love once more, even for a single glance?
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tamagawa ni sarasu tezukuri sarasara ni mukashi no hito no koishiki ya nazo
Like the handwoven cloth rinsed in the Tama River, all over again—why is it that I long now for the one I loved long ago?
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mi wa hayaku Nara no miyako ni narinishi o koishiki koto no furi sezaruran
My body has long since grown old like the old capital of Nara, so why is it that my longing alone never grows old?
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Isonokami furinishi koi no kamisabite tataru ni ware wa negi zo kanetsuru
A love grown old has become like an ancient god and lays its curse on me, and no prayer of mine can calm it.
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Tadanobu
Ikabakari kurushiki mono zo Katsuragi no Kumeji no hashi no naka no taema wa
How painful it must be, while what lies between us is broken off, like the bridge of Kumeji at Katsuragi that stops in the middle.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kagiri naku omoi Nagara no hashibashira omoinagara ni naka ya taenan
Though I love you beyond all measure, will the bond between us, like the old pillars of the bridge of Nagara, break off even as I go on loving?
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Nakanaka ni ii mo hanatade Shinano naru Kisoji no hashi no kaketaru ya nazo
Why not tell me plainly and be done with it? Instead you leave me hanging, like the suspended bridge on the Kiso road in Shinano—why?
Shui Wakashu - Minamoto no Yorimitsu
Sugi tateru yado o zo hito wa tazunekeru kokoro no matsu wa kai nakarikeri
It was to the house where the cedars stand that my love went calling; all my waiting, like a pine in my heart, came to nothing.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Isonokami Furu no yashiro no yūdasuki kakete nomi ya wa koimu to omoishi
Did I ever imagine, like the priest of Furu Shrine at Isonokami draping the sacred cotton sash, that I would only go on holding you in my heart? I never did.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ware ya uki hito ya tsuraki to chihayaburu kami chō kami ni toimiteshi kana
Is it that I am hateful, or that you are cruel? I would like to put the question to every god there is.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Sumiyoshi no arahitogami ni chikaite mo wasururu kimi ga kokoro to zo kiku
Even if you swear by the living god of Sumiyoshi, I hear that yours is a heart that will forget the vow.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Wasuraruru mi o ba omowazu chikaiteshi hito no inochi no oshiku mo aru kana
I give no thought to myself, forgotten as I am; but you swore before the gods, and I cannot help fearing for your life.
Shui Wakashu - Ukon
Nani semu ni inochi o kakete chikaiken ikaba ya to omou ori mo arikeri
Why did I stake my life on that vow? There are moments when I long to go to you, and long to live.
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Sanekata
Chirihiji no kazu ni mo aranu ware yue ni omoiwaburan imo ga kanashisa
She must be grieving for my sake, though I am worth no more than dust and mud; how dear she is to me, my wife.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Koikoite nochi mo awamu to nagusamuru kokoro shi naku wa inochi arame ya
Longing for you on and on, I console myself that we will meet later; without that hope in my heart, how could I go on living?
Shui Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro