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- Manyoshu
Inamino no asaji oshinabe sanuru yo no kenagaku shi areba ie shi shinowayu
The nights I sleep on Inami's plain, pressing down the low cogon grass, have gone on for so many days that my home rises unbidden in my thoughts.
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Akashigata shiohi no michi o asu yori wa shitaemashikemu ie chikazukeba
From tomorrow, walking the path laid bare by the ebbing tide on the Akashi flats, I will be smiling inwardly, for home will be drawing closer.
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Tamamo karu karani no shima ni shimami suru u ni shimo are ya ie omowazu aramu
Am I some cormorant circling the island of Karani, where the jeweled seaweed is gathered, that I could keep from thinking of home?
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Shimagakuri waga kogikureba tomoshikamo yamato e noboru makumano no fune
As I row along, hidden behind the islands, how I envy it: a Kumano boat heading up toward Yamato.
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Kaze fukeba nami ka tatamu to samorai ni tsuda no hosoe ni uragakuri ori
Because the wind is blowing and the waves may rise, I wait for a better time, sheltering in the bay within the narrow creek of Tsuda.
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Suma no ama no shioyakiginu no nare naba ka hitohi mo kimi o wasurete omowamu
If I had grown used to you, as the Suma fisher girls grow used to the robes they wear for burning salt, might I forget you for even a single day? Never.
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Umeyanagi suguraku oshimi saho no uchi ni asobishi koto o miya mo todoro ni
Grieving that the plum and willow would soon be past their prime, we went out to take our pleasure in Saho, and for that the whole palace rang with the uproar.
Ōkimi no sakaitamau to yamamori sue moru to iu yama ni irazu wa yamaji
The mountain where, they say, our great sovereign has set the bounds and placed keepers to guard it—I will not rest until I enter it.
Miwataseba chikaki mono kara iwagakuri kagayou tama o torazu wa yamaji
Though it lies so near when I look out, it glimmers hidden among the rocks—that jewel I will not rest until I take.
Karakoromo kinara no sato no shimamatsu ni tama o shi tsukemu yoki hito mogamo
On the island pine in the village of Nara—Nara, like a Kara cloak worn soft—I would hang jewels. If only there were someone worthy to see them.
Saoshika no nakunaru yama o koeyukamu hi dani ya kimi ga hata awazaramu
Even on the day I cross the mountain where the stag is heard crying, will you still refuse to meet me, my love?
Ashita wa umibe ni asarishi yūsareba yamato e koyuru kari shi tomoshimo
In the morning they forage along the shore, and when evening comes they cross over the hills to Yamato—how I envy those wild geese.
Manyoshu - Prince Kashiwade
Sasutake no ōmiyabito no ie to sumu saho no yama o ba omou ya mo kimi
The hills of Saho, where the men of the great palace make their homes—do you think of them with longing, my lord?
Manyoshu - Ishikawa no Taruhito
Yasumishishi waga ōkimi no osu kuni wa yamato mo koko mo oyaji to zo omou
In the realm our great sovereign governs, Yamato and this place here are one and the same, I think.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Iza kodomo kashii no kata ni shirotae no sode sae nurete asana tsumitemu
Come now, all of you—out on the flats of Kashii, even at the cost of wetting our white sleeves, let us gather greens for the morning meal.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Tokitsukaze fukubeku narinu kashiigata shiohi no ura ni tamamo karite na
The wind that comes with the tide will soon be blowing. On the bay of Kashii's flats, while the tide is out, let us reap the jeweled seaweed.
Manyoshu - Ono no Oyu