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- Manyoshu
Ashihiki no yamatsubaki saku yatsuo koe shishi matsu kimi ga iwaizuma kamo
You cross the many peaks where mountain camellias bloom to lie in wait for deer—and I am the wife who keeps herself pure, praying for your safe return.
Akatoki to yogarasu nakedo kono oka no konure no ue wa imada shizukeshi
The night crows cry that it is dawn, yet on this hill the tops of the trees are still quiet.
Nishi no ichi ni tada hitori idete me narabezu kaiteshi kinu no akijikori kamo
I went to the western market all alone and, without comparing, bought silk—and what a poor bargain it turned out to be.
Kotoshi yuku niisakimori ga asagoromo kata no mayoi wa tare ka torimimu
The hempen robe of the new frontier guard setting out this year—who will take in hand the fraying at its shoulders and mend it?
Ōbune o arumi ni kogide ya funatake waga mishi kora ga mami wa shirushi mo
We row the great ship out onto the rough sea—come, drive her on! Yet the eyes of the girl I saw stay vivid before me.
Kora ga te o Makimukuyama wa tsune ni aredo suginishi hito ni yuki makame ya mo
Mount Makimuku stands as it always has—but could I ever go to the one who has passed away and lie pillowed on her arm again?
Makimuku no yamabe toyomite yuku mizu no minawa no gotoshi yo no hito ware wa
Like the foam on the water that rushes roaring past the foot of the Makimuku hills—such am I, a man living in this world.
Komoriku no Hatsuse no yama ni teru tsuki wa michikake shikeri hito no tsune naki
The moon that shines over the hills of Hatsuse has waxed and waned—just as human life is never constant.
Tōku arite kumoi ni miyuru imo ga ie ni hayaku itaramu ayume kurokoma
My beloved's house lies far away, seen where the clouds hang low—I would reach it soon. Walk on, my black horse!
Ima tsukuru madara no koromo omokage ni ware ni omōyu imada kinedomo
The dappled robe I am making now rises before my eyes as a vision—though I have not yet worn it.
Kurenai ni koromo somemaku hoshikedomo kite niowaba ka hito no shirubeki
I long to dye a robe in crimson—but if I wore it and its color glowed, would not everyone come to know?
Kanikaku ni hito wa iu tomo oritsugamu waga hatamono no shiroasagoromo
Let people say what they will—I will keep on weaving it, this robe of white hemp upon my loom.
Ajimura no tōyoru umi ni fune ukete shiratama toru to hito ni shirayu na
Launching my boat on the sea where the flocks of teal sway on the waves, I go to gather white pearls—let no one learn of it.
Ochikochi no iso no naka naru shiratama o hito ni shiraezu mimu yoshi mogamo
If only I had some way to see the white pearls lying here and there among the rocks of the shore, without anyone knowing.
Watatsumi no te ni makimoteru tama yue ni iso no urami ni kazuki suru kamo
For the sake of the jewel the sea god keeps wound about his hand, here I am diving along the rocky coves of the shore.
Watatsumi no moteru shiratama mimaku hori chitabi zo norishi kazuki suru ama
Longing to see the white pearl the sea god keeps, a thousand times he voiced his prayer—the fisherman who dives beneath the waves.