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- Shin Kokin Wakashu
Morasaba ya omou kokoro o sate nomi wa e zo yamashiro no ide no shigarami
How I wish I could let slip this heart full of longing. Held back like this, I cannot bear it any longer, just as the weir at Ide in Yamashiro cannot hold back the rising water.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Inpumon-in no Taifu
Koishi tomo iwaba kokoro no yukubeki ni kurushi ya hitome tsutsumu omoi wa
If only I could say "I long for you," my heart would surely be at ease. How painful it is, this love I keep wrapped away for fear of others' eyes.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Emperor Konoe
Hito shirenu koi ni waga mi wa shizumedomo mirume ni uku wa namida narikeri
In a love no one knows of, I have sunk deep; yet what rises to the surface of eyes that can only look upon you is nothing but tears.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Minamoto no Arihito
Mono omou to iwanu bakari wa shinobu tomo ikaga wa subeki sode no shizuku o
I may manage to keep from saying that I am lost in longing, but what am I to do about the teardrops falling on my sleeves?
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Minamoto no Akinaka
Hito shirezu kurushiki mono wa shinobuyama shita hau kuzu no urami narikeri
What pains me, unknown to anyone, is the resentment of a hidden love, like arrowroot creeping low beneath the trees of Mount Shinobu, its leaves turned over by the wind to show their pale undersides.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kiyosuke
Kiene tada shinobu no yama no mine no kumo kakaru kokoro no ato mo naki made
Just vanish, you cloud upon the peak of Mount Shinobu, until not a trace remains of this heart that clings to its hidden love.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Asukai Masatsune
Kagiri areba shinobu no yama no fumoto ni mo ochiba ga ue no tsuyu zo irozuku
Since even hiding has its limits, at the foot of Mount Shinobu, whose very name means to conceal, the dew upon the fallen leaves is taking on color.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Minamoto no Michiteru
Uchihaete kurushiki mono wa hitome nomi shinobu no ura no ama no takunawa
What drags on and pains me so is only this hiding from the eyes of others, endless as the long rope the fishers draw in, hand over hand, at Shinobu Bay.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Nijoin no Sanuki
Shinobaji yo ishimazutai no tanigawa mo se o seku ni koso mizu masarikere
I will hide my love no longer. Even the mountain stream that threads its way among the stones rises all the higher for being dammed at the shallows.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kintsugu
Hito mo mada fumiminu yama no iwagakure nagaruru mizu o sode ni seku kana
Like water running hidden among the rocks of a mountain no one has yet set foot on, the tears I shed unknown to anyone I hold back with my sleeve.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Shinano
Haruka naru iwa no hazama ni hitori ite hitome omowade mono omowaba ya
I wish I could stay alone in some cleft between the rocks far away from everyone, and give myself wholly to longing, without a thought for the eyes of others.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Saigyō
Kazu naranu kokoro no toga ni nashihateji shirasete koso wa mi o mo uramime
I will not end it all by blaming the fault of my worthless heart. Only after I have let her know my love will I bring myself to resent my own lot.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Saigyō
Kusa fukaki natsuno wakeyuku saoshika no ne o koso tatene tsuyu zo koboruru
Like the stag that makes his way through the deep grass of the summer fields without yet raising his cry, I do not weep aloud, and yet the dew of my tears spills down.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Yoshitsune
Nochi no yo o nageku namida to iinashite shibori ya semashi sumizome no sode
Shall I pass them off as tears of grief for the world to come, and wring them from these ink-black sleeves of a monk's robe?
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Shigeie
Tamazusa no kayou bakari ni nagusamete nochi no yo made no urami nokosu na
Let the letters passing between us be your comfort, and do not leave behind a grudge that lasts into the world to come.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tameshi areba nagame wa sore to shirinagara obotsukanaki wa kokoro narikeri
Because there is a precedent, I know that the way you gaze, lost in thought, has that very cause; and yet what remains uncertain is your heart.
Shin Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet