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- Gosen Wakashu
Yo no naka o itoigatera ni koshikadomo uki mi nagara no yama ni zo arikeru
I came here partly to flee the world I had grown weary of, yet I find myself on Mount Nagara still the same sorrowful self.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Shita ni nomi haiwataritsuru ashi no ne no ureshiki ame ni arawaruru kana
The roots of the reed that crept on and on only beneath the earth are laid bare at last by a welcome rain.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Takitsuse ni tare shiratama o midariken hirou to seshi ni sode wa hichiniki
Who could have scattered these white pearls into the rushing rapids? When I tried to gather them up, my sleeves were soaked through.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Itsu no ma ni furitsumoruran Miyoshino no yama no kai yori kuzure otsuru yuki
When could it have fallen and piled up so deep—this snow that comes crashing down from the gorge in the hills of Yoshino?
Gosen Wakashu - Minamoto no Noboru
Miya no taki mube mo na ni oite kikoekeri otsuru shiraawa no tama to hibikeba
The Palace Falls is famed, I see, and rightly so for its name, for the white foam tumbling down rings out like jewels.
Gosen Wakashu - Emperor Uda
Imasara ni ware wa kaeraji taki mitsutsu yobedo kikazu to towaba kotae yo
I shall not go back now, so late as this. If anyone asks for me, tell them I am gazing at the falls and cannot hear, however they call.
Gosen Wakashu - Henjō
Takitsuse no uzumaki goto ni tomekuredo nao tazunekuru yo no ukime kana
I have come seeking refuge at every whirlpool in the rushing rapids, yet still it seeks me out and follows—the sorrow of this world.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Tarachime wa kakare tote shimo mubatama no waga kurokami o nadezu ya ariken
Surely it was not so that I might come to this that my mother once stroked my jet-black hair.
Gosen Wakashu - Henjō
Ueshi toki chigiri ya shiken Takekuma no matsu o futatabi aimitsuru kana
Did we make a pledge when I planted it, I wonder? For here I am meeting the pine of Takekuma once again.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Motoyoshi
Sugawara ya Fushimi no kure ni miwataseba kasumi ni magau Ohatsuse no yama
At Fushimi in Sugawara, lying back as dusk comes on and gazing far across, I see the hills of Ohatsuse lost among the mists.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Koto no ha mo nakute henikeru toshitsuki ni kono haru dani mo hana wa sakanan
Through all the months and years that have passed without a single word, let the flowers bloom at least this spring.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Naniwazu o kyō koso Mitsu no ura goto ni kore ya kono yo o umiwataru fune
Today at last I have seen Naniwa harbor, and in every bay of Mitsu the boats—are these, then, the boats that cross the sea, weary of this world?
Gosen Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
Shirakumo no kiyadoru mine no komatsubara eda shigekere ya hi no hikari minu
The grove of young pines on the peak where white clouds come to rest—is it because the boughs grow so thick that they never see the light of the sun?
Gosen Wakashu - Fun'ya no Yasuhide
Mi ni samuku aranu mono kara wabishiki wa hito no kokoro no arashi narikeri
It is not that I feel cold in body, yet what makes me so desolate is the storm that blows in another's heart.
Gosen Wakashu - Tosa
Nagaraeba hito no kokoro mo mirubeki o tsuyu no inochi zo kanashikarikeru
Were I to live on, I might see what becomes of his heart; it is this dewdrop life of mine that is so sad.
Gosen Wakashu - Tosa
Morotomo ni iza to wa iwade shide no yama ikade ka hitori koen to wa seshi
Without once saying, "Come, let us go together," how could you have meant to cross the Mountain of Death all alone?
Gosen Wakashu - Eldest Daughter of Kan'in