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- Kokin Wakashu
Ware mite mo hisashiku narinu suminoe no kishi no himematsu iku yo henuramu
It has been long even since I first saw it. How many ages must the little pine on the shore of Suminoe have lived through?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Sumiyoshi no kishi no himematsu hito naraba iku yo ka heshi to towamashi mono o
If the little pine on the shore of Sumiyoshi were a person, I would ask it how many ages it has lived through.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Azusayumi isobe no komatsu ta ga yo ni ka yorozuyo kanete tane o makikemu
The young pines on the rocky shore: in whose age, I wonder, and foreseeing ten thousand generations, did someone sow their seeds?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kaku shitsutsu yo o ya tsukusamu takasago no onoe ni tateru matsu naranaku ni
Going on like this, shall I simply use up my life? And I am no pine standing on the peak of Takasago, to live so long.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tare o ka mo shiru hito ni semu takasago no matsu mo mukashi no tomo naranaku ni
Whom shall I now count as one who knows me? Even the ancient pine of Takasago was never a friend of my younger days.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Okikaze
Watatsumi no okitsu shioai ni ukabu awa no kienu mono kara yoru kata mo nashi
Like foam floating where the tides meet far out on the open sea, I do not vanish, yet I have nowhere to turn for refuge.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Watatsumi no kazashi ni saseru shirotae no nami mote yueru awajishimayama
The hills of Awaji Island, bound round with pure white waves, look like an ornament the sea god has set in his hair.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Wata no hara yosekuru nami no shibashiba mo mimaku no hoshiki tamatsushima kamo
As often as the waves roll in from the wide sea, so often do I long to see Tamatsushima.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Naniwagata shio michikurashi amagoromo tamino no shima ni tazu nakiwataru
The tide seems to be flowing into Naniwa Bay: calling, the cranes fly across toward the isle of Tamino.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kimi o omoi okitsu no hama ni naku tazu no tazune kureba zo ari to dani kiku
Keeping you in my heart, I came seeking you like a crane crying on the shore of Okitsu, and so at least I have heard that you are well.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Tadanobu
Okitsu nami takashi no hama no hamamatsu no na ni koso kimi o machiwataritsure
Just as the pines on the beach of Takashi, where the offshore waves run high, bear the name of waiting, so have I been waiting all this time for you.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Naniwagata ouru tamamo o karisome no ama to zo ware wa narinu beranaru
At Naniwa Bay, cutting the lovely seaweed that grows there, it seems I shall become a fisherman, if only for a little while.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Sumiyoshi to ama wa tsugu tomo nagai su na hito wasuregusa ou to iu nari
Even if the fisherfolk tell you Sumiyoshi is a fine place to live, do not stay too long, for they say the grass that makes you forget people grows there.
Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine
Ame ni yori tamino no shima o kyō yukedo na ni wa kakurenu mono ni zo arikeru
Because of the rain, today I pass by the isle of Tamino, named for a rain-cape, yet its name alone, here near Naniwa, gives no shelter from the rain.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Ashitazu no tateru kawabe o fuku kaze ni yosete kaeranu nami ka to zo miru
On the riverbank where the cranes stand in the blowing wind, they look to me like white waves that rolled in and never drew back.
Kokin Wakashu - Retired Emperor Uda
Mizu no ue ni ukaberu fune no kimi naraba koko zo tomari to iwamashi mono o
If you, my lord, were a boat floating on the water, I would tell you, "Here is your harbor," and keep you from leaving.
Kokin Wakashu - Ise