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- Kokin Wakashu
Harugasumi iro no chigusa ni mietsuru wa
tanabiku yama no hana no kage kamo
The spring haze seems to take on many different hues—perhaps it is because the colors of blossoms on the veiled mountains show through.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Okikaze
Kasumi tatsu haru no yamabe wa tōkeredo
fukikuru kaze wa hana no ka zo suru
Though the spring hills, shrouded in haze, lie far away and their blossoms cannot be seen, the wind that blows from them carries the scent of flowers.
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Motokata
Hana mireba kokoro sae ni zo utsurikeru
iro ni wa ideji hito mo koso shire
Seeing the blossoms fade and change their color, even my own heart has altered; yet I will not let it show, lest others perceive my inconstancy.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Uguisu no naku nobe goto ni kite mireba
utsurou hana ni kaze zo fukikeru
Drawn each time by the warbler’s song in the fields, I went to see, only to find the blossoms already fading, with the wind blowing upon them.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Fuku kaze o nakite urame yo uguisu wa
ware ya wa hana ni te dani furetaru
O warbler, cry out in reproach against the wind that blows—for I have not so much as touched the blossoms.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Chiru hana no naku ni shi tomaru mono naraba
ware uguisu ni otoramashi ya wa
If the falling blossoms could be stopped by lamenting them, then I would not be outdone by the warbler—I too would weep all the more.
Kokin Wakashu - Tonoshi no Yasuko
Hana no chiru koto ya wabishiki harugasumi
Tatsuta no yama no uguisu no koe
Is it that the falling of blossoms is so sorrowful? In the spring haze over Mount Tatsuta, the warbler’s song seems to lament it.
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Chikage
Kozutaeba ono ga hakaze ni chiru hana o
tare ni ōsete kokora nakuramu
As the warbler moves from branch to branch, scattering blossoms with the wind of its own wings, whom does it blame that it cries out so?
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Shirushi naki ne o mo naku kana uguisu no
kotoshi nomi chiru hana naranaku ni
Though it cries out again and again, it is to no avail—the blossoms do not fall only this year, and yet the warbler laments them so.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Koma namete iza mi ni yukamu furusato wa
yuki to nomi koso hana wa chirurame
Let us gather our horses and go to see—back in my old home, the blossoms must be falling like snow.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Chiru hana o nani ka uramimu yo no naka ni
waga mi mo tomo ni aramu mono ka wa
Why should I resent the falling blossoms? In this world, can I myself remain forever alongside them?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Oshi to omou kokoro wa ito ni yorarenamu
chiru hana goto ni nukite todomenu
If only my heart, which feels such regret, could become a thread—then I would pierce each falling blossom and keep it from scattering.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Azusayumi haru no yamabe o koekureba
michi mo sariaezu hana zo chirikeru
As I crossed the spring hills, the blossoms had fallen so thickly along the path that there was no way to avoid them.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Haru no no ni wakana tsumamu to koshi mono o
chirikau hana ni michi wa madoinu
I came to the spring fields to gather young greens, but amid the scattering blossoms I have lost my way.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Yadori shite haru no yamabe ni netaru yo wa
yume no uchi ni mo hana zo chirikeru
Having taken lodging by the spring hills, on that night even in my dreams the blossoms were falling.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Fuku kaze to tani no mizu to shi nakariseba
miyamagakure no hana o mimashi ya
If there were neither wind to scatter them nor streams in the valley to carry them, how could we ever behold the blossoms hidden deep within the mountains?
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki