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- Gosen Wakashu
Itsu made no hakanaki hito no koto no ha ka kokoro no aki no kaze o matsuramu
How long will they last, the words of so unreliable a man? Like leaves that wait for the autumn wind, they must be waiting for the wind of weariness to blow through his heart.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Utatane no yume bakari naru au koto o aki no yosugara omoitsuru kana
All through the long autumn night I have dwelt on our meeting, though it was as brief as a dream in a moment's doze.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Aki no yo no kusa no tozashi no wabishiki wa akuredo akenu mono ni zo arikeru
The misery of a grass door shut fast on an autumn night is this: though the night opens into dawn, the door never opens.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Iu kara ni tsurasa zo masaru aki no yo no kusa no tozashi ni sawaru beshi ya wa
Hearing you say so only makes the pain greater. If your love were real, how could you be stopped by something so slight as a grass door shut on an autumn night?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hito shirezu mono omou koro no waga sode wa aki no kusaba ni otorazarikeri
These days, as I brood in secret over my love, my sleeves are no less wet with tears than the autumn grasses are with dew.
Gosen Wakashu - Prince Sadakazu
Shizuhata ni omoi midarete aki no yo no akuru mo shirazu nagekitsuru kana
My thoughts tangled like the threads of a shizu loom, I grieved through the autumn night without even noticing it had turned to dawn.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Tokihira
Hachisuba no ue wa tsurenaki ura ni koso mono aragai wa tsuku to iu nare
The lotus leaf shows an unconcerned face on top, but it is on the underside, they say, that protest clings—just as shells cling in a bay.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Furiyameba ato dani mienu utakata no kiete hakanaki yo o tanomu kana
Like the foam on water that leaves no trace once the rain has stopped, our bond seems ready to vanish, and yet I still rely on it.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Awade nomi amata no yo o mo kaeru kana hitome no shigeki ausaka ni kite
Night after night I have gone home without meeting you, though I came as far as Ausaka, the Slope of Meeting, where watching eyes are so many.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Nabiku kata arikeru mono o nayotake no yo ni henu mono to omoikeru kana
She already had someone she bent toward, yet I had thought her a young bamboo, one who had not yet known the ways of love.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ne ni nakeba hitowarae nari kuretake no yo ni henu o dani kachinu to omowan
If I weep aloud, I will only be laughed at. Let me at least count it my victory that, like the joints of bamboo, she has not yet shared her life with another.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ise no ama to kimi shi narinaba onajiku wa koishiki hodo ni mirume karaseyo
If you are to become a diver of Ise, then let me, while I still long for you so, gather the mirume—grant me a chance to see you.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Koishiku wa kage o dani mite nagusameyo waga uchitokete shinobu kao nari
If you miss me, then console yourself at least by looking at this likeness. This is my face as I relax and think fondly of you.
Gosen Wakashu - Ichijo
Kage mireba itodo kokoro zo madowaruru chikakaranu ke no utoki narikeri
Looking at this likeness only troubles my heart all the more. It turns out to be the form of some unfamiliar spirit, nothing I could feel close to.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Hitogoto no uki o mo shirazu arikaseshi mukashi nagara no waga mi tomogana
How I wish I were still as I used to be, coming and going freely, knowing nothing of how painful people's gossip can be.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hototogisu natsuki someteshi kai mo naku koe o yoso ni mo kikiwataru kana
Like a cuckoo that had just begun to grow tame, you had begun to grow close to me—yet to no avail, for I go on hearing your voice only from afar.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet