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- Manyoshu
Natsukinishi nara no miyako no areyukeba idetatsu goto ni nageki shi masaru
The capital of Nara, so long familiar and dear, is falling into ruin, and each time I go out and stand there my grief grows greater.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Mikanohara futagi no nobe o kiyomi koso ōmiyadokoro sadamekerashi mo
It is because the fields of Futagi on the plain of Mika are so pure that this, it seems, was chosen as the site of the great palace.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Yama takaku kawa no se kiyoshi momoyo made kamushimi yukamu ōmiyadokoro
The mountains are high, the river shallows pure. For a hundred ages it will grow ever more sacred: this site of the great palace.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Izumigawa yuku se no mizu no taeba koso ōmiyadokoro utsuroi yukame
Only if the water of the flowing shallows of the Izumi River were to run dry would this site of the great palace ever pass away.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Futagiyama yamanami mireba momoyo ni mo kawaru mashijiki ōmiyadokoro
When I look upon the ranging peaks of Mount Futagi, I know this site of the great palace will not change even in a hundred ages.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Otomera ga umio kaku to iu kase no yama toki shi yukeba miyako to narinu
Kase Mountain, whose name recalls the reel where maidens hang the flax thread they have spun, has become the capital now that the times have changed.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Kase no yama kodachi o shigemi asa sarazu kinaki toyomosu uguisu no koe
On Kase Mountain the trees grow thick, and so, every morning without fail, the bush warbler comes and fills the air with its song.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Komayama ni naku hototogisu izumigawa watari o tōmi koko ni kayowazu
The cuckoo calls on Koma Mountain, but because the crossing of the Izumi River is so far away, it never comes over here.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Mikanohara kuni no miyako wa arenikeri ōmiyabito no utsuroinureba
On the plain of Mika, the capital of Kuni has fallen to ruin, for the courtiers of the great palace have moved away.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Saku hana no iro wa kawarazu momoshiki no ōmiyabito zo tachikawarikeru
The colors of the blooming flowers have not changed at all; it is the courtiers of the great palace who have changed and gone.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Arigayou naniwa no miya wa umi chikami ama otomera ga noreru fune miyu
The palace of Naniwa, where our lord comes again and again, is so near the sea that one can see the boats in which the fisher-maidens ride.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Shio fureba ashibe ni sawaku shiratazu no tsuma yobu koe wa miya mo todoro ni
When the tide ebbs, the white cranes clamor among the reeds, and their cries as they call to their mates make the very palace resound.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Masokagami minume no ura wa momofune no sugite yukubeki hama naranaku ni
Minume Bay is not a beach that a hundred ships should simply pass by and leave behind.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Hama kiyomi ura uruwashimi kamuyo yori chifune no hatsuru ōwada no hama
Because its beach is pure and its bay so lovely, a thousand ships have anchored here since the age of the gods: the beach of Ōwada.
Manyoshu - Tanabe no Sakimaro
Ame no umi ni kumo no nami tachi tsuki no fune hoshi no hayashi ni kogi kakuru miyu
On the sea of the sky the waves of cloud are rising, and I watch the moon's boat row on until it hides within the forest of stars.
Tsune wa sane omowanu mono o kono tsuki no sugi kakuramaku oshiki yoi kamo
At other times I never give it a thought, yet tonight how I grieve that this moon should pass across the sky and hide itself away.