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- Manyoshu
Momozutau yaso no shimami o kogu fune ni norinishi kokoro wasurekanetsu mo
Like one who boards a boat rowing round the countless islands, you have come aboard my heart, and I cannot forget you.
Shimazutau abaya no obune kazemamori toshi wa ya henamu au to wa nashi ni
Like a swift little boat that travels from island to island, waiting on the wind—will the years slip by like this, without our ever meeting?
Minagirau okitsu kojima ni kaze o itami fune yosekanetsu kokoro wa omoedo
To the little island offshore, veiled in misting spray, the wind blows so hard that I cannot bring my boat in—though in my heart I long to.
Koto sakeba oki yu sakenamu minato yori hetsukau toki ni sakubeki mono ka
If you must part us, then part us out at sea—is it right to pull us apart just as we come from the harbor to reach the shore?
Kagami nasu waga mishi kimi o aba no no no hanatachibana no tama ni hiriitsu
You whom I used to look upon as one looks in a mirror—on the moor of Aba I have gathered you up, like jewels of the flowering orange.
Akizuno o hito no kakureba asa makishi kimi ga omōete nageki wa yamazu
Whenever people speak of the moor of Akizu, I think of you, whom I scattered there one morning, and my grieving never ends.
Akizuno ni asa iru kumo no useyukeba kinō mo kyō mo naki hito omōyu
When the clouds that rest at dawn on the moor of Akizu fade away, yesterday and today alike I think of the one who is gone.
Komoriku no hatsuse no yama ni kasumi tachi tanabiku kumo wa imo ni ka mo aramu
On the hills of Hatsuse, hidden among the mountains, the haze rises—could the clouds trailing there be my beloved?
Tawakoto ka oyozuregoto ka komoriku no hatsuse no yama ni iori seri to iu
Is it idle talk, or some deceiving rumor—this saying that you have made yourself a hut on the hills of Hatsuse?
Akiyama no momichi aware to uraburete irinishi imo wa matedo kimasazu
Moved by the yellow leaves of the autumn hills, my wife went in among them, forlorn and heartsick—and though I wait, she does not come back.
Yo no naka wa makoto futayo wa yukazarashi suginishi imo ni awanaku omoeba
Truly, it seems, one cannot live this world through twice—when I think how I can never meet my wife who has passed away.
Sakiwai no ika naru hito ka kurokami no shiroku naru made imo ga koe o kiku
How blessed must he be, the man who hears his wife's voice until his black hair has turned white?
Waga seko o izuchi yukame to sakitake no sogai ni neshiku imashi kuyashi mo
Thinking my husband could never go anywhere, I slept with my back turned to him, like split bamboo—and now, how I regret it.
Niwatsutori kake no tario no midareo no nagaki kokoro mo omōenu kamo
Long as the tangled, trailing tail of the rooster in the yard—yet I cannot find in me a heart so long and patient.
Komomakura aimakishi ko mo araba koso yo no fukuraku mo waga oshimi seme
If only the girl who shared my rush pillow were still here, then I would grudge the night as it grows late.
Tamazusa no imo wa tama ka mo ashihiki no kiyoki yamabe ni makeba chirinuru
Could my wife have been a jewel? When I scattered her on the clean mountainside, she was strewn away.