- Top
- -
- Gosen Wakashu
Mizu masaru kokochi nomi shite waga tame ni ureshiki se o ba miseji to ya suru
I only feel the river rising higher—do you mean never to show me, for my sake, the happy shallows where we might meet?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Au koto o yodo ni ari chō mitsu no mori tsurashi to kimi o mitsuru koro kana
Like the Wood of Mitsu that stands at Yodo, where meetings, they say, stall and stagnate, I have come to see you as cruel all through these recent days.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mitsu no mori moru kono koro no nagame ni wa urami mo aezu yodo no kawanami
In these long rains that leak through the Wood of Mitsu, lost in brooding, I cannot even finish my reproach; like the river waves of the Yodo, I only linger and stall.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ukiyo to wa omou monokara ama no to no akuru wa tsuraki mono ni zo arikeru
I had always thought this a world of sorrow, yet the opening of heaven's gate as the night turned to dawn proved crueler still.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Uramuredo kouredo kimi ga yo to tomo ni shirazugao nite tsurenakaruran
Though I reproach you and though I long for you, why is it that you always wear a look of not knowing and remain so cold?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Uramu tomo kou tomo ikaga kumoi yori harukeki hito o sora ni shirubeki
You say you reproach me, you say you long for me, but how could I know, by mere guessing, the heart of one who is farther away than the clouds?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Shizuhata ni hetsuru hodo nari shiraito no taenuru mi to wa omowazaranan
As warp is stretched on the shizu loom, it is only that time has passed. Please do not think of me as one whose bond has snapped like a white thread.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hetsuru yori usuku narinishi shizuhata no ito wa taete mo kai ya nakaran
The thread of the shizu loom has worn thin ever since that time was stretched out; even if it snaps now, what difference could it make?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kuru koto wa tsune narazu tomo tamakazura tanomi wa taeji to omou kokoro ari
Though I may not come to you constantly, like the long-trailing jewel vine, I have a heart that holds my trust in you will never break.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tamakazura tanomekuru hi no kazu wa aredo taedae nite wa kai nakarikeri
Like a jewel vine drawn in, the days on which you promised to come are many indeed, but coming only now and then, they have been worth nothing.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Inishie no kokoro wa naku ya nariniken tanomeshi koto no taete toshi furu
Has the heart you had in the old days vanished altogether? The promise you gave me to trust in has broken off, and the years go by.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Inishie mo ima mo kokoro no nakereba zo uki o mo shirade toshi o nomi furu
Then as now I have had no heart at all, and that is why, knowing nothing of sorrow, I merely let the years go by.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Taetarishi mukashi dani mishi uchihashi o ima wa wataru to oto ni nomi kiku
Even in the old days, when the bridge lay broken between us, I saw you by that plank bridge; now I only hear the sound of you crossing it and passing by.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Wasurarete toshi furusato no hototogisu nani ni hitokoe nakite yukuran
Here in this old village where I have spent the years forgotten, why does the cuckoo sing a single note and then fly away?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tou ya tote sugi naki yado ni kinikeredo koishiki koto zo shirube narikeru
Thinking you might be waiting for me to call, I came to your house, though no cedar marked the gate; it was my longing alone that guided me there.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tsuyu no inochi itsu tomo shiranu yo no naka ni nado ka tsurashi to omoi okaruru
In this world where a life like the dew may vanish at any moment, why must I be laid down in your heart as one who is cruel?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet