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- Kokin Wakashu
Ima koso are ware mo mukashi wa otokoyama sakayuku toki mo arikoshi mono o
Look at me now—but I too, long ago, was in my manly prime, and like one climbing the slopes of Mount Otoko, I had my time of rising glory.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yo no naka ni furinuru mono wa tsu no kuni no nagara no hashi to ware to narikeri
Of all things in this world that have grown old, there are only the Nagara Bridge in the land of Tsu, and myself.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Sasa no ha ni furitsumu yuki no ure o omomi moto kutachiyuku waga sakari wa mo
As bamboo grass bends from its roots under snow piled heavy on its tips, so the prime of my life is declining.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ōaraki no mori no shitakusa oinureba koma mo susamezu karu hito mo nashi
The undergrowth in the Ōaraki woods has grown old, so even horses do not care to eat it, and no one comes to cut it.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kazoureba tomaranu mono o toshi to iite kotoshi wa itaku oi zo shinikeru
Though they never stay, however we count them, we call them years, and this year I have grown terribly old.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Oshiteru ya naniwa no mitsu ni yaku shio no karaku mo ware wa oinikeru kana
Like the salt burned at Mitsu harbor in Naniwa, bitterly have I grown old.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Oiraku no komu to shiriseba kado sashite nashi to kotaete awazaramashi o
Had I known Old Age was coming to call, I would have barred the gate, answered that no one was at home, and never met it.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Sakasama ni toshi mo yukanamu tori mo aezu suguru yowai ya tomo ni kaeru to
I wish the years would run backward, in hope that the age that slips past before I can grasp it might come back along with them.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Toritomuru mono ni shi araneba toshitsuki o aware ana u to sugushitsuru kana
Since they are not things one can seize and hold, I have let the months and years pass, sighing, "Alas, how wretched."
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Todome aezu mube mo toshi to wa iwarekeri shika mo tsurenaku suguru yowai ka
They cannot be held back. No wonder they are called toshi, the swift ones: how coldly the years of my life slip by.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kagamiyama iza tachiyorite mite yukamu toshi henuru mi wa oi ya shinuru to
Mount Kagami, the Mirror Mountain: come, let me stop and look, to see whether this body worn by years has grown old.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Oinureba saranu wakare mo ari to ieba iyoiyo mimaku hoshiki kimi kana
Now that I am old, and they say there is a parting none can escape, I long all the more to see you.
Kokin Wakashu - Princess Ito
Yo no naka ni saranu wakare no naku mo gana chiyo mo to nageku hito no ko no tame
If only there were no inescapable parting in this world, for the sake of children who pray that their parents live a thousand years.
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
Shirayuki no yae furishikeru kaeruyama kaerugaeru mo oinikeru kana
White snow lies heaped eightfold upon Mount Kaeru, and again and again, as its name says, I realize how old I have become.
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Muneyoshi
Oinu tote nado ka waga mi o semekikemu oizu wa kyō ni awamashi mono ka
Why did I blame myself for having grown old? Had I not lived to old age, could I have met this day?
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
Chihayaburu uji no hashimori nare o shi zo aware to wa omou toshi no henureba
O keeper of the Uji Bridge, it is you I hold dear with all my heart, since we have both lived through so many years.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet