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- Gosen Wakashu
Yo no naka o shirazu nagara mo Tsu no kuni no Naniwa tachinuru mono ni zo arikeru
Even knowing nothing yet of love between man and woman, a name rises, like Naniwa in the land of Tsu—that, I see, is the way of things.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yo to tomo ni waga nureginu to naru mono wa waburu namida no kisuru narikeri
That which forever becomes my wet robe of false blame—it is the tears I weep in my distress that dress me in it.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Ukeredomo kanashiki mono o hitaburu ni ware o ya hito no omoisutsuran
It is bitter, yet it is sorrow too—will you, I wonder, cast me wholly from your thoughts?
Gosen Wakashu - Taifu
Kanashiki mo uki mo shirinishi hitotsu na o tare o waku to ka omoisutsubeki
We who have known both sorrow and bitterness under the same name—whom would I set apart and cast from my thoughts?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Michi shiranu mono nara naku ni ashihiki no yama fumimayou hito mo arikeri
It is not as though you do not know the way, and yet there are those who lose their footing on the mountain paths—and lose their letters too.
Gosen Wakashu - Taifu
Shirakashi no yuki mo kienishi ashihiki no yamaji o tare ka fumimayou beki
On a mountain road where even the snow on the white oaks has melted away, who could possibly lose his footing—or his letter?
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Atsutada
Iu koto no tagawanu mono ni aramaseba nochi uki koto to kikoezaramashi
If the words we spoke were things that never went astray, it would never have been told afterwards as a bitter tale.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Omokage o aimishi kazu ni nasu toki wa kokoro nomi koso shizumerarekere
When I count the face that appears in my mind among the times we have actually met, then my heart alone can be calmed.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Nukitomenu kami no suji mote ayashiku mo henikeru toshi no kazu o shiru kana
By strands of hair that hold no beads strung upon them, strangely enough, one comes to know the number of the years gone by.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Namikazu ni aranu mi nareba Sumiyoshi no kishi ni mo yorazu nari ya hatenan
Being one not counted among the common run—not even among the waves—am I to end without ever drawing near the shore of Sumiyoshi?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tsuki mo sezu uki koto no ha no ōkaru o hayaku arashi no kaze mo fukanamu
Bitter words, like leaves, grow thick without end—O storm wind, come quickly and blow them all away.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Shimagakure ariso ni kayou ashitazu no fumioku ato wa nami mo ketanan
The reed crane that, hidden behind the island, comes and goes along the rough shore—may the waves wash away the prints it leaves behind, the traces of my letter.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Mi wa hayaku naki mono no goto narinishi o kiesenu mono wa kokoro narikeri
My body long ago became as though it no longer existed, yet what has never faded away, I find, is my heart.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Mutsumashiki Imose no yama no naka ni sae hedatsuru kumo no harezu mo aru kana
Even between the close-joined hills of Imose, sister and brother, the clouds that separate them refuse to clear.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Waga tame ni okinikukarishi hashitaka no hito no te ni ari to kiku wa makoto ka
That sparrow hawk I found so hard to keep—is it true, what I hear, that she now rests on another man's hand?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Koe ni tatete iwanedo shirushi kuchinashi no iro wa waga tame usuki narikeri
Though not spoken aloud, it is plain enough: the color of the gardenia, the "mouthless" flower, is pale where I am concerned—as pale as your regard.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet