- Top
- -
- Kokin Wakashu
Yuki to nomi furu dani aru o sakurabana
ika ni chire to ka kaze no fukuramu
Even when they fall gently like snow, it is already too sorrowful—why then does the wind blow, as if urging the cherry blossoms to scatter?
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Yama takami mitsutsu waga koshi sakurabana
kaze wa kokoro ni makasu beranari
Because the mountain was high, I could only gaze at the cherry blossoms as I passed, without taking them; yet the wind seems to do with them as it pleases.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Harusame no furu wa namida ka sakurabana
chiru o oshimanu hito shi nakereba
Is the softly falling spring rain perhaps tears? For there is no one who does not grieve the scattering of cherry blossoms.
Kokin Wakashu - Otomo no Kuronushi
Sakurabana chirinuru kaze no nagori ni wa
mizu naki sora ni nami zo tachikeru
In the aftermath of the wind that has scattered the cherry blossoms, waves seem to rise in the waterless sky.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Furusato to narinishi Nara no miyako ni mo
iro wa kawarazu hana wa sakikeri
Even in Nara, now a former capital, and in the present capital as well, the blossoms bloom with their colors unchanged.
Hana no iro wa kasumi ni komete misezu tomo
ka o dani nusume haru no yamakaze
Though the colors of the blossoms are hidden away in haze and cannot be seen, at least steal their fragrance for me, O spring mountain wind.
Kokin Wakashu - Yoshimine no Munesada
Hana no ki mo ima wa horiueji haru tateba
utsurou iro ni hito naraikeri
I will no longer dig up and plant flowering trees; for when spring comes, people come to resemble their ever-changing colors.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Haru no iro no itari itaranu sato wa araji
sakeru sakazaru hana no miyuramu
There should be no village untouched by the colors of spring, and yet we see blossoms that bloom and others that do not—how can this be?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Miwayama o shika mo kakusu ka harugasumi
hito ni shirarenu hana ya sakuramu
Why does the spring haze so conceal Mount Miwa? Perhaps blossoms are blooming there, hidden from the sight of men.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Iza kyō wa haru no yamabe ni majirinamu
kurenaba nage no hana no kage ka wa
Come, today let us wander among the spring hills; even if night should fall, will there not be the sheltering shade of blossoms?
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Itsu made ka nobe ni kokoro no akugaremu
hana shi chirazu wa chiyo mo henubeshi
How long will my heart be drawn out to the spring fields? If only the blossoms did not fall, I could remain so for a thousand years.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Haru goto ni hana no sakari wa arinamedo
aimimu koto wa inochi narikeri
Though each spring the blossoms surely come into their full bloom, to behold that sight depends upon my being alive.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hana no goto yo no tsune naraba sugushiteshi
mukashi wa mata mo kaeri kinamashi
If this world were as constant as the blossoms that return each year, then even the past that has gone might come back once again.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Fuku kaze ni atsuraetsukuru mono naraba
kono hitomoto wa yogi yo to iwamashi
If it were possible to give orders to the wind that scatters the blossoms, I would tell it to pass by this one tree and leave it untouched.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Matsu hito mo konu mono yue ni uguisu no
nakitsukeru hana o oritekeru kana
Since the one I was waiting for has not come, I have broken off the blossom on which the warbler had perched.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Saku hana wa chigusa nagara ni ada naredo
tare ka wa haru o uramihatetaru
Though the blossoms that bloom are many and all are fleeting and fickle, who could ever truly resent the spring that brings them forth?
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Okikaze