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- Manyoshu
Shika no ama no shio yaku keburi kaze o itami tachi wa noborazu yama ni tanabiku
The smoke from the Shika fishermen's salt fires, beaten by the fierce wind, does not rise straight up but trails along the hills.
Ōnamuchi sukunamikami no tsukurashishi imose no yama o miraku shi yoshi mo
How good it is to gaze on the Imose mountains, fashioned long ago by the gods Ōnamuchi and Sukunami!
Wagimoko to mitsutsu shinowamu okitsumo no hana sakitaraba ware ni tsuge koso
I will gaze on them and cherish them as if they were my beloved—so when the seaweed far offshore comes into flower, please tell me.
Kimi ga tame ukinu no ike no hishi tsumu to waga someshi sode nurenikeru kamo
For your sake I went to pick water chestnuts in the pond of Ukinu—and the sleeves I dyed with my own hands have been soaked through.
Imo ga tame suga no mi tsumi ni yukishi ware yamaji ni madoi kono hi kurashitsu
I set out to pick sedge seeds for my beloved's sake—but lost my way on the mountain paths and spent the whole day wandering.
Sahogawa ni nakunaru chidori nani shi kamo kawara o shinoi iya kawanoboru
Plovers crying on the Saho River—why is it that, longing for the riverbanks, you keep flying farther and farther upstream?
Hito koso ba ōni mo iwame waga kokoda shinou kawara o shime yuu na yume
Others may speak of it lightly, but the riverbanks I long for so dearly—never stake your claim to them with a sacred rope!
Sasanami no shigatsu no ama wa are nashi ni kazuki wa na se so nami tatazu tomo
You fishermen of Shigatsu in Sasanami—do not dive while I am away, even if the waves are calm.
Ōbune ni kaji shi mo aranamu kimi nashi ni kazuki seme ya mo nami tatazu tomo
I wish the great ship had its oars—but with you away, would I ever dive? Never, even if the waves were calm.
Tsukikusa ni koromo zo somuru kimi ga tame madara no koromo suramu to omoite
I am dyeing cloth with dayflower for you, my love, thinking to rub-print you a robe in dappled patterns.
Harugasumi i no ue yu tada ni michi wa aredo kimi ni awamu to tamotōrikumo
There is a road that runs straight past the well, but I came the long way round, hoping I might meet you.
Michinobe no kusafukayuri no hanaemi ni emishi ga kara ni tsuma to iu beshi ya
Like a lily blooming deep in the grass by the roadside, I smiled a little—but just because I smiled, should you call me your wife?
Moda araji to koto no nagusa ni iu koto o kikishireraku wa ashiku wa arikeri
Thinking you should not stay silent, you say things only to comfort me with words—and to hear them, knowing them for what they are, has been hard indeed.
Saekiyama unohana mochishi kanashiki ga te o shi toriteba hana wa chiru tomo
My dear one, holding deutzia blossoms on Mount Saeki—if only I could take her hand, I would not mind if the flowers scattered.
Tokinaranu madara no koromo kihoshiki ka shima no harihara toki ni aranedomo
How I long to wear a dappled robe out of season—though the alder groves of Shima have not yet come to their time for dyeing.
Yamamori no sato e kayoishi yamamichi zo shigeku narikeru wasurekerashi mo
The mountain path the warden used to take down to the village has grown thick with grass—it seems he has forgotten it.