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- Manyoshu
Tamazusa no imo wa hana ka mo ashihiki no kono yamakage ni makeba usenuru
Could my wife have been a flower? When I scattered her in the shade of this mountain, she vanished away.
Nako no umi o asa kogikureba watanaka ni kako zo nakunaru aware sono kako
As I came rowing across the Sea of Nako at dawn, I heard a deer calling from out on the sea—ah, that deer!
Iwabashiru tarumi no ue no sawarabi no moeizuru haru ni narinikeru kamo
Spring has come at last, the season when young bracken shoots push up beside the waterfall that rushes over the rocks.
Manyoshu - Prince Shiki
Kamunabi no iwase no mori no yobukodori itaku na nakiso aga koi masaru
O calling bird in the sacred grove of Iwase, do not cry so piercingly, for my longing only grows stronger.
Manyoshu - Princess Kagami
Awayuki ka hadare ni furu to miru made ni nagarae chiru wa nani no hana zo mo
So thickly do they drift that I mistook them for light snow falling in patches; what flowers are these, scattering and streaming down?
Manyoshu - The Suruga Lady-in-Waiting
Haruyama no saki no oori ni haruna tsumu imo ga shirahimo miraku shi yoshi mo
Amid the spring hills where blossoms bend the branches, how pleasing it is to see the white cords of the girl gathering spring greens.
Manyoshu - Owari no Muraji
Uchinabiku haru kitaru rashi yama no ma no tōki konure no sakiyuku mireba
Spring seems to have come, for I see the distant treetops between the hills bursting one after another into bloom.
Manyoshu - Owari no Muraji
Kozo no haru ikojite ueshi waga yado no wakagi no ume wa hana sakinikeri
The young plum tree I dug up by the roots and planted in my garden last spring has now come into flower.
Manyoshu - Abe no Hironiwa
Haru no no ni sumire tsumi ni to koshi ware zo no o natsukashimi hitoyo ninikeru
I came to the spring fields to pick violets, and so drawn was I to the fields that I stayed and slept there through the night.
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Ashihiki no yamazakurabana hi narabete kaku sakitaraba itaku koime ya mo
If only the mountain cherry blossoms would stay in bloom like this day after day, would I long for them so desperately? Surely not.
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Waga seko ni misemu to omoishi ume no hana sore to mo miezu yuki no furereba
The plum blossoms I had meant to show you can no longer be told apart, for snow has fallen over them.
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Asu yori wa haruna tsumamu to shimeshi no ni kinō mo kyō mo yuki wa furitsutsu
On the field I marked off, meaning to pick spring greens from tomorrow on, snow keeps falling, yesterday and today alike.
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Kozo no haru aerishi kimi ni koinite shi sakura no hana wa mukaekerashi mo
The cherry blossoms, which have longed for you ever since they met you last spring, seem to have bloomed again to welcome you.
Kudarano no hagi no furue ni haru matsu to orishi uguisu nakinikemu kamo
The warbler that sat waiting for spring on the old branches of bush clover in Kudara Plain: has it begun to sing by now?
Manyoshu - Yamabe no Akahito
Waga seko ga miramu sahoji no aoyagi o taorite dani mo mimu yoshi mo gamo
The green willows along the Saho road that you must be looking at now: if only there were some way for me to see even a single branch broken off from them.
Manyoshu - Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
Uchinoboru saho no kawara no aoyagi wa ima wa harube to narinikeru kamo
The green willows on the riverbanks of the Saho, up along the stream, have now taken on the full look of spring.
Manyoshu - Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue