classic waka stream

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  • Shin Kokin Wakashu

Hisakata no ame ni shioruru kimi yue ni tsukihi mo shirade koiwataruran

For our lord, who has gone up to the far heavens and lies drenched in the rain, do we go on longing, heedless of the passing of moons and suns?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro

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Aru wa naku naki wa kazu sou yo no naka ni aware izure no hi made nagekan

In this world where the living pass away and the dead only grow in number—ah, until what day must I go on lamenting?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Komachi

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Shiratama ka nani zo to hito no toishi toki tsuyu to kotaete kenamashi mono o

When she asked, "Is that a white pearl? What is it?"—if only I had answered, "It is dew," and vanished away like the dew myself.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira

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Toshi fureba kaku mo arikeri sumizome no ko wa omou chō sore ka aranu ka

As the years pass, so it turns out to be—this one in ink-black mourning, is she the one I am said to love, or is she not?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Emperor Daigo

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Naki hito o shinobikanete wa wasuregusa ōkaru yado ni yadori o zo suru

Unable to bear my longing for the dead, I have come to stay in this house where forget-grass grows so thick.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kanesuke

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Kuyashiku zo nochi ni awan to chigirikeru kyō o kagiri to iwamashi mono o

How I regret having promised that we would meet again later—if only I had said that today was the last.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Suetsuna

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Sumizome no sode wa sora ni mo kasanaku ni shibori mo aezu tsuyu zo koboruru

Though I have not lent my ink-black mourning sleeves to the sky, I cannot wring them dry enough, and the dew keeps spilling down.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Prince Tomohira

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Kurenu ma no mi o ba omowade hito no yo no aware o shiru zo katsu wa hakanaki

Heedless of my own self, which lasts only until the day grows dark, I come to know the sorrow of the human world—and that knowing is itself fleeting.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Murasaki Shikibu

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Tamahoko no michi no yamakaze samukaraba katami gatera ni kinamu to zo omou

If the mountain winds along your road turn cold, I believe you will wear this clothing, and let it serve as a keepsake of me as well.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki

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Wasurenamu yo ni mo koshiji no kaeruyama itsuhata hito ni awamu to suramu

Though ours is a bond that will surely be forgotten, like the name of Mount Return on the Koshi road I would come back—yet when, as Itsuhata's name asks, shall I ever meet that person again?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Ise

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Kita e yuku kari no tsubasa ni kotozute yo kumo no uwagaki kakitaezu shite

Entrust your messages to the wings of the wild geese flying north. Let the addresses on your letters, carried above the clouds, never cease.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Murasaki Shikibu

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Akigiri no tatsu tabigoromo okite miyo tsuyu bakari naru katami nari tomo

I cut this travel robe as the autumn mists rise and you set out. Keep it by you and look upon it, though it is a keepsake no greater than a drop of dew.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Onakatomi no Yoshinobu

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Mite dani mo akanu kokoro o tamahoko no michi no oku made hito no yukuramu

Even with you before my eyes, my heart can never see enough of you. Why, then, must you go down the long road to Michinoku, the farthest reach of the way?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki

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Ōsaka no seki ni waga yado nakariseba wakaruru hito wa tanomazaramashi

Were my house not here by the Barrier of Ōsaka, the Hill of Meeting, those who part from us would have no reason to hope that they might meet again.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kanesuke

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Kinarase to omoishi mono o tabigoromo tatsu hi o shirazu narinikeru kana

I cut this travel robe hoping you would wear it until it grew familiar to you, yet I never knew the day you set out, and so it has come to this.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

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Kore ya sa wa kumo no hatate ni oru to kiku tatsu koto shiranu ama no hagoromo

Is this, then, the celestial feathered robe, said to be woven at the far edge of the clouds, a robe that knows nothing of cutting?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Jakushō

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