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- Kokin Wakashu
Omoikemu hito o zo tomo ni omowamashi masashi ya mukui nakarikeri ya wa
I should have loved in return the one who, it seems, loved me. Truly, can anyone say there is no retribution?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Idete yukamu hito o todomemu yoshi naki ni tonari no kata ni hana mo hinu kana
I have no way to keep the one who is leaving from going. If only someone next door would sneeze.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kurenai ni someshi kokoro mo tanomarezu hito o aku ni wa utsuru chō nari
Not even a heart dyed deep crimson can be trusted, for they say that just as crimson fades in lye, a heart that tires of someone changes.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Itowaruru waga mi wa haru no koma nare ya nogai gatera ni hanachi sutetsuru
Am I, whom you despise, a colt in springtime, that you have turned me loose to graze and simply abandoned me?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Uguisu no kozo no yadori no furusu to ya ware ni wa hito no tsurenakaruramu
Do you think of me as the warbler's old nest from last year? Is that why you are so cold to me?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Sakashira ni natsu wa hitomane sasa no ha no sayagu shimoyo o waga hitori nuru
In summer I cleverly followed others' example and slept alone; now, on a frosty night when the bamboo leaves rustle, I still sleep by myself.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Au koto no ima wa hatsuka ni narinureba yo fukakarade wa tsuki nakarikeri
Now that our meetings have grown so rare, like the moon of the twentieth night, which rises only late, I have no way to reach you until the night is deep.
Kokin Wakashu - Taira no Nakaki
Morokoshi no Yoshino no yama ni komoru tomo okuremu to omou ware naranaku ni
Even if you were to shut yourself away in the Yoshino mountains of China, I am not one to think of being left behind.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Tokihira
Kumo harenu Asama no yama no asamashi ya hito no kokoro o mite koso yamame
Like Mount Asama, forever wrapped in cloud, you leave me aghast. Only once I have seen into your heart will I give this love up.
Kokin Wakashu - Taira no Nakaki
Naniwa naru Nagara no hashi mo tsukuru nari ima wa waga mi o nani ni tatoemu
They say even the ancient Nagara Bridge in Naniwa is being rebuilt, or has crumbled away. What, then, shall I liken my aging self to now?
Kokin Wakashu - Ise
Mame naredo nani zo wa yokeku karukaya no midarete aredo ashikeku mo nashi
What good comes of being earnest? Even if one is tangled like the karukaya grass, there is nothing wrong with it.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Nani ka sono na no tatsu koto no oshikaramu shirite madou wa ware hitori ka wa
Why should I mind if rumors about us spread? Am I the only one who knows better and still loses his way in love?
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Okikaze
Yoso nagara waga mi ni ito no yoru to ieba tada itsuwari ni sugu bakari nari
Though there is nothing between us, people say my cousin is drawing close to me, twisting us together like thread. I simply let it pass through as a lie, like thread through a needle.
Kokin Wakashu - Kuso
Negigoto o sa nomi kikikemu yashiro koso hate wa nageki no mori to narurame
The shrine that has listened to so many prayers will surely, in the end, become a forest grown from people's sighs, heaped up like firewood.
Kokin Wakashu - Sanuki
Nageki koru yama to shi takaku narinureba tsurazue nomi zo mazu tsukarekeru
My sighs, cut and stacked like firewood, have grown as high as a mountain, so the first thing I lean on is a staff for my cheek, my chin propped in my hand.
Kokin Wakashu - Taifu
Nageki o ba kori nomi tsumite ashihiki no yama no kai naku narinu beranari
I only cut and pile up my sighs like firewood, until the mountain gorges seem filled in, and life itself seems about to lose all worth.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet