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- Sankashu
Tōchi sasu hita no omote ni hiku shio ni shizumu kokoro zo kanashikarikeru
On the face of the hita, where the tide ebbs away, how sad is the heart that sinks along with it.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Mase ni saku hana ni mutsurete tobu chō no urayamashiku mo hakanakarikeri
The butterfly that flits about the flowers blooming on the fence, how I envy it, and yet how fleeting it is.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Utsuriyuku iro oba shirazu koto no ha no na sae ada naru tsuyukusa no hana
Leaving aside its color, so quick to fade, even the name of the dayflower speaks of transience, for it is called the dew-grass.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Kaze fukeba ada ni yareyuku bashōba no areba to mi o mo tanomu beki ka wa
Like the banana leaf that tears so easily when the wind blows, can I rely on this body just because it is alive now?
Sankashu - Saigyō
Furusato no yomogi wa yado no nani nareba areyuku niwa ni mazu shigeruran
What is the mugwort of the old village to this house, that it should be the first to grow thick in the garden going to ruin?
Sankashu - Saigyō
Furusato wa mishi yo ni mo nizu asenikeri izuchi mukashi no hito yukiniken
The old village has faded, no longer like the place I knew; where, I wonder, have the people of the old days gone?
Sankashu - Saigyō
Shigurureba yamameguri suru kokoro kana itsu made to nomi uchishioretsutsu
When the winter showers fall, my heart goes round the mountains with them, drooping, thinking only, how long will this go on?
Sankashu - Saigyō
Harahara to otsuru namida zo aware naru tamarazu mono no kanashikaru beshi
How moving are the tears that fall and fall; unable to hold them back, the heart must surely be in sorrow.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Nani to naku seri to kiku koso aware nare tsumiken hito no kokoro shirarete
Somehow, just to hear the word parsley moves me deeply, for I come to know the heart of the one who is said to have picked it.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Yamabito yo Yoshino no oku no shirube seyo hana mo tazunen mata omoi ari
Mountain folk, guide me into the depths of Yoshino; I would seek the blossoms, and I have another purpose too.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Wabibito no namida ni nitaru sakura kana kaze mi ni shimeba mazu koboretsutsu
How like the tears of the grieving are the cherry blossoms; as soon as the wind pierces them, they are the first to spill.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Yoshinoyama yagate ideji to omou mi o hana chirinaba to hito ya matsuran
I mean never to leave Mount Yoshino once I am there, yet do the people in the capital wait for me, thinking I will return once the blossoms fall?
Sankashu - Saigyō
Hito mo kozu kokoro mo chirade yamakage wa hana o miru ni mo tayori arikeri
With no one coming and the heart never scattered, a dwelling in the mountain's shade is a fine place even for viewing the blossoms.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Kaze no oto ni mono omou waga iro somete mi ni shimiwataru aki no yūgure
The autumn dusk, dyeing with the sound of the wind the color of my brooding heart, sinks deep into me.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Ware nare ya kaze o wazurau shinodake wa okifushi mono no kokorobosokute
Is it myself, this slender bamboo troubled by the wind? Rising and falling, it seems so forlorn.
Sankashu - Saigyō
Kon yo ni mo kakaru tsuki o shi miru beku wa inochi o oshimu hito nakaramashi
If in the world to come one could see such a moon as this, there would be no one who clings to life.
Sankashu - Saigyō