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- Kokin Wakashu
Miyakobito ikaga to towaba yama takami harenu kumoi ni wabu to kotae yo
If the people of the capital ask how I am, tell them that the mountains are so high that I live in gloom among clouds that never lift.
Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Sadaki
Wabinureba mi o ukikusa no ne o taete sasou mizu araba inamu to zo omou
I am so weary of life that I feel like a floating weed cut loose from its roots; if some stream would invite me along, I think I would drift away with it.
Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Komachi
Aware chō koto koso utate yo no naka o omoi hanarenu hodashi narikere
It is this feeling we call "aware," the heart moved by things, that, sadly, is the very fetter that keeps me from casting off the world.
Kokin Wakashu - Ono no Komachi
Aware chō koto no ha goto ni oku tsuyu wa mukashi o kouru namida narikeri
Each time I utter the word "aware," the dew that settles on those leaves of speech is my own tears, longing for the past.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yo no naka no uki mo tsuraki mo tsugenaku ni mazu shiru mono wa namida narikeri
No one has told me of the sorrows and pains of this world, yet the first to know of them are always my tears.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yo no naka wa yume ka utsutsu ka utsutsu tomo yume tomo shirazu arite nakereba
Is this world a dream or is it real? I cannot tell whether it is real or a dream, for it exists and yet does not.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yo no naka ni izura waga mi no arite nashi aware to ya iwamu ana u to ya iwamu
Where in this world am I? I exist, and yet I do not. Shall I call this "aware," or shall I say, "ah, how bitter"?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yamazato wa mono no sabishiki koto koso are yo no uki yori wa sumiyokarikeri
A mountain village has its share of loneliness, it is true; but compared with the sorrows of the world, it is a far easier place to live.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Shirakumo no taezu tanabiku mine ni dani sumeba suminuru yo ni koso arikere
Even on a peak where white clouds trail without end, if one lives there, one can live; such, I have found, is this world.
Kokin Wakashu - Prince Koretaka
Shiri ni kemu kikite mo itoe yo no naka wa nami no sawagi ni kaze zo shikumeru
You must know it by now: shun the world, even if you only hear of it. The world, it seems, is like a raging sea, with wind piling upon the turmoil of the waves.
Kokin Wakashu - Furu no Imamichi
Izuko ni ka yo o ba itowamu kokoro koso no ni mo yama ni mo madou beranare
Where can I go to renounce the world? It is my own heart that seems to wander astray through the fields and over the mountains.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei
Yo no naka wa mukashi yori ya wa ukarikemu waga mi hitotsu no tame ni nareru ka
Has the world been this painful since long ago? Or has it become so only on my account?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yo no naka o itou yamabe no kusaki to ya ana u no hana no iro ni idenikemu
Is it because they grow on the hillsides where people flee the world, that the u-no-hana, whose name sounds like "ah, how bitter," has shown that feeling in the color of its blossoms?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Miyoshino no yama no anata ni yado mogana yo no uki toki no kakurega ni semu
If only I had a lodging beyond the mountains of Yoshino! I would make it my hiding place when the world becomes too painful.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yo ni fureba usa koso masare miyoshino no iwa no kakemichi fumi narashitemu
The longer I live in this world, the more its bitterness grows. I will go into the mountains, treading the cliffside paths of Yoshino until they are worn smooth.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ikanaramu iwao no uchi ni sumaba ka wa yo no uki koto no kikoe kozaramu
Inside what sort of crag would I have to live so that the troubles of the world would no longer reach my ears?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet