classic waka stream

  • Top
  • -
  • Heike Monogatari

Kumo no ue ni mishi ni kawaranu tsukikage no
sumu ni tsukete mo mono zo kanashiki

The light of this moon is no different from the moon I used to see above the clouds; and that it shines so clearly makes it the sadder.

Heike Monogatari - Sanjo Kinchika

show detail

Waga mi koso Akashi no ura ni tabine seme
onaji nami ni mo yadoru tsuki kana

It is I who must sleep out the night on the shore at Akashi; and yet in these same waves the moon still finds its lodging.

Heike Monogatari - Emperor Go-Fukakusa

show detail

Miyako o ba kyō o kagiri no sekimizu ni
mata Ausaka no kage ya utsusan

Today is the last I shall see of the capital; and shall I ever mirror my face again in this water at the Ōsaka barrier?

Heike Monogatari - Kozaisho

show detail

Sekikanete namida no kakaru karagoromo
nochi no katami ni nugi zo kaenuru

I could not hold back the tears that have fallen on this robe; so I take it off and leave it as a keepsake for afterward.

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Ietaka

show detail

Nugikauru koromo mo ima wa nani ka sen
kyō o kagiri no katami to omoeba

What use to me now is a robe you take off and give me, when I think of it as the keepsake of a day that has no tomorrow?

Heike Monogatari - Shimotsuke

show detail

Kaeri kon koto wa Katada ni hiku ami no
me ni mo tamaranu waga namida kana

That I shall return is hard to hope for; and as the drawn nets at Katata hold no water in their mesh, so my eyes cannot hold my tears.

Heike Monogatari - Emperor Kameyama

show detail

Hototogisu hanatachibana no ka o tomete
naku wa mukashi no hito zo koishiki

The cuckoo has come following the fragrance of the orange flowers and cries. Is it that he too longs for those who are gone?

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Kintsune

show detail

Iwane fumi tare ka wa towan nara no ha no
soyogu wa shika no wataru narikeri

Who would tread over the rocks to visit here? No one. That stirring of the oak leaves is a deer passing through.

Heike Monogatari - Shimotsuke

show detail

Ikemizu ni migiwa no sakura chirishikite
nami no hana koso sakari narikere

The cherry from the water's edge has fallen and spread across the pond; and it is these flowers of the waves that are now at their height.

Heike Monogatari - Prince Munetaka

show detail

Omoiki ya miyama no oku ni sumai shite
kumoi no tsuki o yoso ni min to wa

Could I have thought that I should live deep in the mountains and look on the moon of the palace only from far outside?

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Kintsune

show detail

Kono koro wa itsu naraite ka waga kokoro
ōmiyabito no koishikaruran

When did this heart of mine learn it—that of late it should be so full of longing for the people of the palace?

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Kintsune

show detail

Inishie mo yume ni narinishi koto nareba
shiba no amido mo hisashikaraji na

Since all that is past has turned into a dream, this life behind a brushwood door will not last long either.

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Kintsune

show detail

Inishie wa tsuki ni tatoeshi kimi naredo
sono hikari naki miyamabe no sato

In the old days she was one we likened to the moon; and here in this village among the deep hills there is no light of her at all.

Heike Monogatari - Minamoto no Tomouji

show detail

Iza saraba namida kuraben hototogisu
ware mo ukiyo ni ne o nomi zo naku

Come then, cuckoo, let us match our weeping; for I too do nothing in this bitter world but lift my voice and cry.

Heike Monogatari - Fujiwara no Kintsune

show detail