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- Gosen Wakashu
Hitotose ni kasanaru haru no araba koso futatabi hana o mimu to tanomame
Only if spring came twice within a single year could I count on seeing the blossoms a second time.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Haru kureba saku chō koto o nureginu ni kisuru bakari no hana ni zo arikeru
People say the blossoms bloom when spring comes, but that is only a false charge pinned on them like a wet robe—such, I see, are these flowers.
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Harugasumi tachinagara mishi hana yue ni fumitometekeru ato no kuyashisa
Gazing at the blossoms as the spring haze rose, I stood rooted to the spot and let your letter lie unanswered—how I regret it now.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Haruhi sasu fuji no uraba no uratokete kimi shi omowaba ware mo tanoman
As the spring sun opens the leaves at the tips of the wisteria, so my heart opens too—if you truly love me, I will put my trust in you.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Uguisu ni mi o aikaeba chiru made mo waga mono ni shite hana wa mitemashi
If only I could trade places with the warbler, I would gaze on the blossoms as my very own until the moment they fell.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Hana no iro wa mukashi nagara ni mishi hito no kokoro nomi koso utsuroi ni kere
The color of the blossoms is just as it was long ago; it is only the heart of the one I loved that has faded and changed.
Gosen Wakashu - Prince Motoyoshi
Atara yo no tsuki to hana to o onajiku wa aware shireran hito ni misebaya
This night is too precious to let pass: if I could, I would show the moon and the blossoms to someone who truly feels their beauty.
Gosen Wakashu - Minamoto no Saneakira
Miyakobito kite mo oranan kawazu naku Agata no Ido no yamabuki no hana
You who live in the capital, come and pick them, I pray—the kerria blossoms at Agata Well, where the frogs are singing.
Gosen Wakashu - Daughter of Tachibana no Kinhira
Ima yori wa kaze ni makasemu sakurabana chiru ko no moto ni kimi tomarikeri
From now on I will leave the cherry blossoms to the wind—for beneath the tree where they fall, you have stayed.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kaze ni shimo nani ka makasen sakurabana nioi akanu ni chiru wa ukariki
Why would I ever leave the cherry blossoms to the wind? When they fell before I had my fill of their beauty, how it pained me.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Atsutada
Tsune yori mo harube ni nareba Sakuragawa hana no nami koso manaku yosurame
When spring comes round, on Sakuragawa, the Cherry River, waves of blossoms must be rolling in more ceaselessly than ever.
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Waga kitaru hitoe goromo wa yamabuki no yae no iro ni mo otorazarikeri
The single-layered robe I am wearing is not outshone in color even by the double-petaled kerria.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kanesuke
Hitotose ni futatabi sakanu hana nareba mube chiru koto o hito wa iikeri
Since the blossoms never bloom twice in a single year, it is no wonder that people talk so much of their falling.
Gosen Wakashu - Ariwara no Motokata
Harusame no hana no e yori nagarekoba nao koso nureme ka mo ya utsuru to
If the spring rain comes flowing down from the blossoming branches, I will let it drench me all the more, in hope that their fragrance will cling to me.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
Haru fukaki iro ni mo aru kana Suminoe no soko mo midori ni miyuru hamamatsu
What a deep color, the very depth of spring—the pines along the shore at Suminoe, turning even the water's depths green.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Haru kureba hanami ni to omou kokoro koso nobe no kasumi to tomo ni tachikere
When spring comes, my heart, longing to go and see the flowers, rises and sets out together with the haze over the fields.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Yoruka