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- Kokin Wakashu
Ima zo shiru kurushiki mono to hito matamu sato o ba karezu tou bekarikeri
Now I know how painful it is to wait. I should have visited, without fail, the villages where someone must be waiting for me.
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
Wasurete wa yume ka to zo omou omoiki ya yuki fumiwakete kimi o mimu to wa
When for a moment I forget, I think it must be a dream. Did I ever imagine that I would tread my way through the snow to see you like this?
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
Toshi o hete sumikoshi sato o idete inaba itodo fukakusa no to ya narinamu
If I leave this village where I have lived for so many years, will Fukakusa, "deep grass," become even more overgrown, turning into a wild moor?
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
No to naraba uzura to nakite toshi wa hemu kari ni dani ya wa kimi ga kozaramu
If this place becomes a moor, I will live out the years as a quail, crying in the grass. Then surely you will come, if only for a moment, if only to hunt.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ware o kimi naniwa no ura ni arishikaba ukime o mitsu no ama to nariniki
Because you left me neglected on the shore of Naniwa, I have seen bitter days and have become a nun at Mitsu.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Naniwagata uramu beki ma mo omooezu izuko o mitsu no ama to ka wa naru
I cannot recall any rift between us that would give you cause to resent me. What bitterness did you see that you should become a nun at Mitsu?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Imasara ni tou beki hito mo omooezu yaemugura shite kado saseri tee
At this late date, I can think of no one who would come to call. Tell them that the gate is shut fast, overgrown with tangled weeds.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mizu no omo ni ouru satsuki no ukikusa no uki koto are ya ne o taete konu
Like the floating weeds that grow on the water in the fifth month, have you met with something bitter, that you have cut your roots, as it were, and no longer come?
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Mi o sutete yuki ya shinikemu omou yori hoka naru mono wa kokoro narikeri
Has my heart left my body behind and gone off to you? The thing that goes beyond what I intend, I now know, is the heart.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Kimi ga omoi yuki to tsumoraba tanomarezu haru yori nochi wa araji to omoeba
If your feelings pile up like snow, I cannot rely on them, for I fear that after spring comes they will be gone.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Kimi o nomi omoi koshiji no shirayama wa itsuka wa yuki no kiyuru toki aru
I came along the Koshi road thinking only of you, and on Shirayama there, when does the snow ever melt away? Never.
Kokin Wakashu - Muneoka no Ōyori
Omoiyaru koshi no shirayama shiranedomo hitoyo mo yume ni koenu yo zo naki
I have never seen Shirayama in Koshi, where my thoughts go out to you, and yet there is not a single night when I do not cross it in my dreams.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Iza koko ni waga yo wa henamu sugawara ya fushimi no sato no aremaku mo oshi
Come, I will spend the rest of my life right here, for it would be a shame to let the village of Fushimi in Sugawara fall into ruin.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Waga io wa miwa no yamamoto koishiku wa toburai kimase sugi tateru kado
My hut is at the foot of Mount Miwa. If you long for me, come and visit; look for the gate where the cedars stand.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Waga io wa miyako no tatsumi shika zo sumu yo o ujiyama to hito wa iu nari
My hut lies southeast of the capital, and there I live just so, at peace. Yet people, I hear, call it Mount Uji, the mountain of one weary of the world.
Kokin Wakashu - The Monk Kisen
Arenikeri aware ikuyo no yado nare ya sumikemu hito no otozure mo senu
It has fallen into ruin. Ah, how many ages has this house seen? Not a single one of those who must once have lived here ever comes to visit.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet