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- Manyoshu
Inishie ni arikemu hito mo waga goto ka miwa no hibara ni kazashi orikemu
Did the people of long ago, like me, break off sprays in the cypress forest of Miwa to wear in their hair?
Yuku kawa no suginishi hito no taoraneba urabure tateri miwa no hibara wa
Since those who have passed away like a flowing river no longer break its sprays, it stands there forlorn—the cypress forest of Miwa.
Miyoshino no aonegatake no kokemushiro tare ka orikemu tatenuki nashi ni
This carpet of moss on Aone Peak in lovely Yoshino—who could have woven it, without any warp or weft?
Imoragari waga kayoiji no shinosusuki ware shi kayowaba nabike shinohara
You dwarf bamboo and pampas grass along the path I take to my beloved—when I come by, bow down and let me pass, you thickets of bamboo!
Yama no ma ni wataru akisa no yukite imu sono kawa no se ni nami tatsu na yume
The mergansers are flying across between the mountains—on the shallows of the stream where they will come to rest, O waves, never rise!
Sahogawa no kiyoki kawara ni naku chidori kawazu to futatsu wasurekanetsu mo
The plovers crying on the clear riverbanks of the Saho, and the river frogs as well—the two of them I can never forget.
Sahogawa ni sawakeru chidori sayo fukete na ga koe kikeba inekatenaku ni
Plovers clamoring on the Saho River—when I hear your cries deep in the night, I cannot sleep.
Kiyoki se ni chidori tsuma yobi yama no ma ni kasumi tatsu ramu kamunabi no sato
In the clear shallows the plovers call to their mates, and between the hills the haze must be rising now—in the village of Kamunabi.
Toshitsuki mo imada henaku ni asukagawa sese yu watashishi ishibashi mo nashi
Not so many months and years have gone by, yet the stepping stones once laid across the shallows of the Asuka River are gone.
Ochitagitsu hashiriimizu no kiyoku areba okite wa ware wa yukikatenu kamo
The water of this running spring, tumbling and foaming down, is so pure that I cannot bring myself to leave it behind and go.
Ashibi nasu sakaeshi kimi ga horishi i no ishii no mizu wa nomedo akanu kamo
He flourished like the andromeda in full bloom, the lord who dug this well—its stone-lined water I drink and drink and never tire of it.
Koto toreba nageki sakidatsu kedashiku mo koto no shitabi ni tsuma ya komoreru
Whenever I take up my koto, sighs come before the music—could it be that my wife is hiding in the hollow beneath its strings?
Kamusaburu iwane kogoshiki miyoshino no mikumariyama o mireba kanashi mo
When I gaze on Mount Mikumari at lovely Yoshino, godlike and ancient with its rugged, deep-rooted crags, I am moved to the heart.
Minahito no kouru miyoshino kyō mireba ube mo koikeri yamakawa kiyomi
Everyone yearns for lovely Yoshino—and seeing it today, I understand why they long for it, so pure are its mountains and rivers.
Ime no wada koto ni shi arikeri utsutsu ni mo mitekeru mono o omoishi omoeba
"The Pool of Dreams" was only a name—for I have come and seen it in waking life, having longed and longed to see it.
Sumeroki no kami no miyabito tokorozura iya tokoshiku ni ware kaerimimu
As a courtier of our divine sovereign, I will come back again and again to see this place—forever, like the endless tokoro vine.