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- Gosen Wakashu
Ta ga tame ni ware ga inochi o nagahama no ura ni yadori o shitsutsu ka wa koshi
For whose sake do you think I prayed to keep my life long, lodging night after night on the shore of Nagahama as I made my way back? Was it not for you?
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Seki mo aezu fuchi ni zo mayou namidagawa wataru chō se o shiru yoshi mogana
My river of tears flows on, too strong to dam, and I am lost in its deep pools. If only I knew of some shallows where, they say, it can be crossed—some chance to meet you.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Fuchi nagara hito kayowasaji namidagawa wataraba asaki se o mo koso mire
Let your river of tears stay deep pools, and let no one cross it. If you were to cross, I might find only shallows—a shallow heart.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kite kaeru na o nomi zo tatsu karakoromo shita yuu himo no kokoro tokeneba
All I gain is a name for coming and going home again, for like the cord tied beneath a Chinese robe, your heart will not come undone.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Taenu tomo nani omoiken namidagawa nagare au se mo arikeru mono o
Why did I ever think that our bond had been cut off? Even in the river of tears there were shallows where the streams meet—a time for us to meet again.
Gosen Wakashu - Taira no Keiko
Ima wa haya miyama o idete hototogisu kejikaki koe o ware ni kikaseyo
Cuckoo, leave the deep mountains now, without delay, and let me hear your voice close at hand.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Saneyori
Hito wa isa miyamagakure no hototogisu narawanu sato wa sumiukarubeshi
Others may feel differently, but for the cuckoo hidden away in the deep mountains, a village it is not used to would be a hard place to live.
Gosen Wakashu - Taifu
Arishi dani ukarishi mono o akazu tote izuko ni souru tsurasa naruran
Even as things were, it was painful enough—so where, still unsatisfied, could you be adding yet more pain to it?
Gosen Wakashu - Nakatsukasa
Omoiwabi kimi ga tsuraki ni tachiyoraba ame mo hitome mo morasazaranan
If, worn out with longing, I stop at your cold Katsuragi dwelling, let neither the rain nor any watching eye leak through.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Saneyori
Fuetake no moto no furune wa kawaru tomo ono ga yoyo ni wa narazu mo aranan
Though the old root of this flute's bamboo, and the old tone it once had, may change, I hope we never come to live our lives apart, each in a separate world.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Me mo miezu namida no ame no shigurureba mi no nureginu wa hiru yoshi mo nashi
The rain of my tears falls so thick I cannot even see, and so the wet robe of false blame I wear has no way of ever drying.
Gosen Wakashu - Ono no Yoshifuru
Nikukaranu hito no kiseken nureginu wa omoi ni aezu ima kawakinan
If that wet robe was put on you by someone you find far from hateful, it will soon dry, unable to withstand the fire of my jealous thoughts.
Gosen Wakashu - Chujo no Naishi
Ōkata wa se to dani kakeji amanogawa fukaki kokoro o fuchi to tanomamu
I will not even speak of shallows, O River of Heaven. Rather, I will put my trust in your deep heart, as in a deep pool.
Gosen Wakashu - Ono no Michikaze
Fuchi tote mo tanomi ya wa suru amanogawa toshi ni hitotabi wataru chō se o
Deep pool or not, how could I rely on it? The River of Heaven is crossed, they say, at its shallows only once a year.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mi no naramu koto o mo shirazu kogu fune wa nami no kokoro mo tsutsumazarikeri
A boat that rows out without knowing what will become of it has no fear, it seems, even of the moods of the waves.
Gosen Wakashu - Minamoto no Kiyokage
Wabinureba ima hata onaji naniwa naru mi o tsukushite mo awamu to zo omou
I am so lost in misery that now it is all the same. Like the channel markers at Naniwa, I will meet you even if it costs me my very life.
Gosen Wakashu - Prince Motoyoshi