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- Kokin Wakashu
Yoso ni mite kaeramu hito ni fuji no hana
haimatsure yo eda wa oru tomo
O wisteria blossoms, cling to those who only look from afar and then depart—even if your branches should break in the doing.
Kokin Wakashu - Sojo Henjo
Waga yado ni sakeru fujinami tachikaeri
sugigate ni nomi hito no miruramu
At my home, the wisteria blooms so beautifully that people turn back and cannot help but linger, unable to pass it by.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Ima mo kamo saki niouramu tachibana no
Kojima no saki no yamabuki no hana
Do the kerria blossoms at the cape of Tachibana no Kojima still bloom in the same radiant beauty as they once did?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Harusame ni nioeru iro mo akanaku ni
ka sae natsukashi yamabuki no hana
In the spring rain, the vivid beauty of the kerria blossoms is never tiresome, and beyond that, even their fragrance draws the heart.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yamabuki wa ayana na saki so hana mimu to
uekemu kimi ga koyoi konaku ni
Kerria blossoms, do not bloom without cause—we planted you to view together, yet tonight he does not come.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yoshinogawa kishi no yamabuki fuku kaze ni
soko no kage sae utsuroinikeri
The kerria blossoms along the banks of the Yoshino River, stirred by the wind, have faded—so that even their reflection in the water seems to vanish.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kawazu naku Ide no yamabuki chirinikeri
hana no sakari ni awamashi mono o
The kerria blossoms at Ide, where the frogs cry, have already fallen—had I known, I would have come earlier to see them in full bloom.
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Omoudochi haru no yamabe ni uchimurete
soko to mo iwanu tabine shiteshi ga
With companions of like heart, I would wander together through the spring hills and, without deciding any destination, spend the night along the way.
Kokin Wakashu - Sosei Hoshi
Azusayumi haru tachishi yori toshitsuki no
iru ga gotoku mo omooyuru kana
Since spring began, the months and years seem to pass as swiftly as arrows shot from a bow.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Nakitomuru hana shi nakereba uguisu mo
hate wa monouku narinu beranari
Since there are no blossoms left to hold back by its song, the warbler too seems, in the end, to have grown weary of crying out.
Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Hana chireru mizu no manimani tomekureba
yama ni wa haru mo naku narinikeri
Tracing the drifting blossoms upstream, I came in search of them, only to find that in the mountains even spring itself had already passed.
Kokin Wakashu - Fukayabu
Koe taezu nake ya uguisu hitotose ni
futatabi to dani kubeki haru ka wa
Do not let your voice fall silent—sing on, O warbler; for in a year, will such a spring ever come again?
Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Okikaze
Todomubeki mono to wa nashi ni hakanaku mo
chiru hana goto ni tagou kokoro ka
Though there is nothing that can truly be held and kept, still my heart is drawn after each fleeting blossom as it falls.
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Nuretsutsu zo shiite oritsuru toshi no uchi ni
haru wa ikuka mo araji to omoeba
Though drenched in the rain, I forced myself to pluck them—for within a year, how many days of spring can there truly be?
Kokin Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
Kyō nomi to haru o omowanu toki dani mo
tatsu koto yasuki hana no kage ka wa
Even when one does not think that spring will end today, how can one easily leave the shade of the blossoms?
Kokin Wakashu - Oshikochi no Mitsune
Waga yado no ike no fujinami sakinikeri
yamahototogisu itsu ka kinakamu
At my home, the wisteria by the pond has come into bloom—when will the mountain cuckoo come and sing?
Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet