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- Kokin Wakashu
Kimi ga yo ni ōsaka yama no iwashimizu kogakuretari to omoikeru kana
Like the rock-spring of Mount Ōsaka, I who have lived to meet your reign had thought myself hidden away in the shade of the trees, unknown to the world.
Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadamine
Ume no hana mi ni koso kitsure uguisu no hitoku hitoku to itoishi mo oru
I came only to see the plum blossoms, yet the bush warbler keeps crying "hitoku, hitoku," someone's coming, someone's coming, as if it could not bear my being here.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yamabuki no hanairo goromo nushi ya tare toedo kotaezu kuchinashi ni shite
O robe the color of kerria blossoms, I ask who your owner is, but you do not answer, for you were dyed with gardenia, the "mouthless" flower.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Ikubaku no ta o tsukureba ka hototogisu shide no taosa o asana asana yobu
How vast must the paddies be that you farm, little cuckoo, that you call for your "shide no taosa," your field-master, every single morning?
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
Itsushika to mataku kokoro o hagi ni agete ama no kawara o kyō ya wataramu
His heart racing with impatience, hitched up to his shins like the hem of a robe, will the Herdsman wade across the Riverbed of Heaven already today?
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Mutsugoto mo mada tsukinaku ni akenu meri izura wa aki no nagashi chō yo wa
Our lovers' talk is not yet spent, and already the night seems to have ended. Where, then, is that famous long night of autumn?
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Aki no no ni namameki tateru ominaeshi ana kashikamashi hana mo hitotoki
Maiden flowers standing so coquettishly in the autumn fields, oh, how noisy you are! Your blossoming lasts only a moment.
Kokin Wakashu - Henjō
Aki kureba nobe ni tawaruru ominaeshi izure no hito ka tsumade mirubeki
When autumn comes, the maiden flowers frolic in the fields; who could simply gaze upon them without plucking one to call his own?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Akigiri no harete kumoreba ominaeshi hana no sugata zo miekakure suru
As the autumn mist lifts and gathers again, the figures of the maiden flowers slip in and out of sight.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hana to mite oramu to sureba ominaeshi utata aru sama no na ni koso arikere
Thinking it merely a flower, I went to pick it, only to realize that "maiden flower" is a name that makes one hesitate.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Akikaze ni hokorobinu rashi fujibakama tsuzuri sase chō kirigirisu naku
The autumn wind seems to have split the seams of the "fujibakama," the purple trousers of the thoroughwort, for the crickets are crying "tsuzuri sase," mend them, stitch them up.
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Muneyoshi
Fuyu nagara haru no tonari no chikakereba nakagaki yori zo hana wa chirikeru
It is still winter, but spring is so close, right next door, that blossoms have come scattering over the fence between our houses.
Kokin Wakashu - Kiyohara no Fukayabu
Isonokami furinishi koi no kamisabite tataru ni ware wa i zo nekanetsuru
My love has grown so old that it has turned into a god, and it curses me so that I cannot get to sleep.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Makura yori ato yori koi no semekureba semukata nami zo tokonaka ni oru
Love assails me from the pillow and from the foot of the bed alike, so with nowhere to go I sit huddled in the middle of my bedding.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Koishiki ga kata mo kata koso ari to kike tatere oredomo naki kokochi kana
They say that even longing has its proper direction, yet whether I stand or sit, I feel as though there is none at all.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Arinu ya to kokoromi gatera aimineba tawabure nikuki made zo koishiki
Wondering if I could bear it, I stayed away from you as a kind of test, and now I long for you so much it is no joking matter.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet