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- Manyoshu
Mikomokaru shinanu no mayumi hikazu shite shiisaru waza o shiru to iwanaku ni
You have not even drawn the fine bow of Shinano, yet no one can say they know the art of stringing it before they have tried.
Manyoshu - Lady Ishikawa
Azusayumi hikaba manimani yorame domo nochi no kokoro o shirikatenu kamo
Like a catalpa bow, if you draw me I would come to you as you wish, but I cannot know what your heart will be in days to come.
Manyoshu - Lady Ishikawa
Azusayumi tsurao torihake hiku hito wa nochi no kokoro o shiru hito zo hiku
The one who firmly strings a catalpa bow and draws it is one who already knows his heart in days to come; only such a man will draw.
Manyoshu - Meditation Master Kume
Azumahito no nosaki no hako no ni no o ni mo imo wa kokoro ni norinikeru kamo
Like the cords that bind the boxes of first-fruit tribute brought by the people of the east, you have come to rest firmly upon my heart.
Manyoshu - Meditation Master Kume
Tamakazura mi naranu ki ni wa chihayaburu kami zo tsuku to iu naranu ki goto ni
They say that a fearsome god comes to dwell in any tree that bears no fruit—in every tree that bears none.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Yasumaro
Tamakazura hana nomi sakite narazu aru wa ta ga koi ni arame a wa koi mou o
A vine that only blossoms and never bears fruit—whose love could that be? Not mine, for I long for you with all my heart.
Manyoshu - Lady Kose
Waga sato ni ōyuki fureri ōhara no furinishi sato ni furamaku wa nochi
A great snow has fallen here in my village! In your old and faded village of Ōhara, it will not fall until later.
Manyoshu - Emperor Tenmu
Waga oka no okami ni iite furashimeshi yuki no kudakeshi soko ni chirikemu
I bade the dragon god of my hill to send down snow; some broken crumbs of it must have scattered over your way.
Manyoshu - Fujiwara no Ioe no Iratsume
Waga seko o yamato e yaru to sayo fukete akatokitsuyu ni ware tachi nureshi
Seeing my dear brother off back to Yamato, I stood as the night grew late until I was drenched in the dew before dawn.
Manyoshu - Princess Ōku
Futari yukedo yukisugikataki akiyama o ika ni ka kimi ga hitori koyuramu
Even two together would find the autumn mountains hard to pass through. How, then, are you crossing them now all alone?
Manyoshu - Princess Ōku
Ashihiki no yama no shizuku ni imo matsu to ware tachi nurenu yama no shizuku ni
Waiting for you, my love, I stood until I was soaked by the drops falling from the mountain trees—by the drops of the mountain.
Manyoshu - Prince Ōtsu
A o matsu to kimi ga nurekemu ashihiki no yama no shizuku ni naramashi mono o
You were soaked, you say, as you waited for me. If only I could have been those drops falling from the mountain trees.
Manyoshu - Lady Ishikawa
Ōbune no tsumori ga ura ni noramu to wa masashi ni shirite waga futari neshi
I knew full well that Tsumori's divination would reveal it, and still the two of us lay together.
Manyoshu - Prince Ōtsu
Ōnako o ochikatanobe ni karu kaya no tsuka no aida mo ware wasureme ya
Ōnako, my love—not even for the short span of a handful of grass cut in the distant meadows could I ever forget you.
Manyoshu - Prince Kusakabe
Inishie ni kouru tori kamo yuzuruha no mii no ue yori naki watari yuku
Could it be a bird that longs for days gone by? Crying, it flies on over the sacred spring where the yuzuruha trees grow.
Manyoshu - Prince Yuge
Inishie ni kouramu tori wa hototogisu kedashi ya nakishi aga moeru goto
The bird that longs for days gone by must be the hototogisu. Perhaps it cried out, just as I myself long for those days.
Manyoshu - Princess Nukata