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- Shui Wakashu
Atarashiki toshi ni wa aredomo uguisu no naku ne sae ni wa kawarazarikeri
Though it is a new year, even the song of the bush warbler has not changed at all.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Toshitsuki no yukue mo shiranu yamagatsu wa taki no oto ni ya haru o shiru ran
The mountain folk, who know nothing of how the months and years go by, must learn that spring has come from the sound of the waterfall.
Shui Wakashu - Ukon
Haru kureba taki no shiraito ika nare ya musubedomo nao awa ni miyuran
When spring comes, how is it that the white threads of the waterfall, whether one tries to tie them or scoop them up in the hand, still look as faint as foam?
Shui Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Akazarishi kimi ga nioi no koishisa ni ume no hana o zo kesa wa oritsuru
Longing for your fragrance, of which I could never have enough, I broke off a branch of plum blossoms this morning.
Shui Wakashu - Prince Tomohira
Kochi fukaba nioi okoseyo ume no hana aruji nashi tote haru o wasuru na
When the east wind blows, send your fragrance to me, O plum blossoms; though your master is gone, do not forget the spring.
Shui Wakashu - Sugawara no Michizane
Ume no hana yuki yori saki ni sakishikado miru hito mare ni yuki no furitsutsu
The plum blossoms bloomed even before the snow, yet few come to see them, and the snow keeps falling upon them.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Inishi toshi nekojite ueshi waga yado no wakagi no ume wa hana sakinikeri
The young plum tree at my house, which I dug up roots and all and planted last year, has burst into bloom.
Shui Wakashu - Abe no Hironiwa
Hana no iro wa akazu miru tomo uguisu no negura no eda ni te nana fure so mo
Though you may never tire of gazing at the color of the blossoms, do not lay a hand on the branch where the bush warbler roosts.
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Koretada
Orite miru kai mo aru kana ume no hana kyō kokonoe no nioi masarite
It is well worth breaking you off to gaze upon, O plum blossoms, for today in the palace your beauty shines all the more.
Shui Wakashu - Minamoto no Hironobu
Kazashite wa shiraga ni magau ume no hana ima wa izure o nukamu to su ran
Worn in the hair, these plum blossoms are mistaken for white hairs; which of them, then, are we now meant to pluck out?
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Korehira
Kazoeredo obotsukanaki o waga yado no ume koso haru no kazu o shiru rame
Though I count, I cannot be sure of the number; surely it is the plum at my house that knows how many springs have passed.
Shui Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Toshigoto ni saki wa kawaredo ume no hana aware naru ka wa usezu zo arikeru
Though the blossoms change from year to year, the plum's fragrance, so moving to the heart, has never faded.
Shui Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ume ga e o kari ni kite oru hito ya aru to nobe no kasumi wa tachikakusu kamo
Perhaps, fearing someone might come by in passing to break off a branch of the plum, the haze over the fields is rising up to hide it.
Shui Wakashu - Minamoto no Shitagō
Haru kite zo hito mo toikeru yamazato wa hana koso yado no aruji narikere
Only now that spring has come do people pay a visit; in this mountain village, it is the blossoms who are the true masters of the house.
Shui Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kintō
Obotsukana Kurama no yama no michi shirade kasumi no uchi ni madou kyō kana
How uneasy I am! Not knowing the path up Mount Kurama, whose very name speaks of darkness, I wander lost in the haze today.
Shui Wakashu - Priest Anpō
Omou koto arite koso yuke harugasumi michi samatage ni tachi na kakushi so
It is because something weighs on my heart that I am going; O spring haze, do not rise up and hide the path, blocking my way.
Shui Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki