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- Gosen Wakashu
Okurezu zo kokoro ni norite kogaru beki nami ni motomeyo fune miezu tomo
I will not be left behind—I shall ride within your heart, rowed along and burning with longing. Look for me upon the waves, even if no boat can be seen.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Fune naku wa Ama no Kawa made motometemu kogitsutsu shio no naka ni kiezu wa
Even without a boat I would search for you as far as the River of Heaven, rowing on and on—so long as I do not vanish amid the tides.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kanete yori namida zo sode o uchinurasu ukaberu fune ni noramu to omoeba
Even before I leave, my tears are soaking my sleeves, when I think that I must board a boat that floats upon the waves.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Osaetsutsu ware wa sode ni zo sekitomuru fune kosu shio ni nasaji to omoeba
Pressing them back again and again, I dam my tears within my sleeves, for I am determined they shall not become a tide that sweeps over your boat.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Wasureji to koto ni musubite wakarureba aimimu made wa omoimidaru na
Since we part having bound ourselves with the words "I will not forget," do not let your heart be tangled with worry until we meet again.
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Hatsusegawa wataru se sae ya nigoruran yo ni sumigataki waga mi to omoeba
Are even the shallows of the Hatsuse River I cross turning muddy? For I feel I am one who can scarcely live in this world with a clear name.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Na ni shi owaba ada ni zo omou Tawarejima nami no nureginu iku yo kitsuran
If you live up to your name, I would think you fickle, O Tawarejima, Isle of Dalliance—yet how many nights have you worn the waves' wet robe, a false charge laid upon you?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Itodoshiku sugiyuku kata no koishiki ni urayamashiku mo kaeru nami kana
All the more do I long for the land I have left behind, and how I envy the waves that turn and go back again.
Gosen Wakashu - Ariwara no Narihira
Miyako made oto ni furikuru Shirayama wa yukitsukigataki tokoro narikeri
Shirayama, the White Mountain whose fame reaches all the way to the capital, is a place hard to arrive at—buried as it is in snow.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yamazato no kusaba no tsuyu mo shigekaran minoshirogoromo nuwazu tomo kiyo
In your mountain village the dew on the grasses must lie thick—though it is not yet sewn, wear this robe in place of a straw raincoat.
Gosen Wakashu - Nakahara no Munetoki
Miyako nite yama no ha ni mishi tsuki naredo umi yori idete umi ni koso ire
This is the moon I watched on the mountain rim in the capital, yet here it rises from the sea and sinks into the sea.
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Mizuhiki no shiraito haete oru hata wa tabi no koromo ni tachi ya kasanen
The cloth woven on a loom strung with the white threads of falling water—shall I cut it and layer it over my traveling robes?
Gosen Wakashu - Sugawara no Michizane
Higurashi no yamaji o kurami sayo fukete ko no sue goto ni momiji teraseru
So dark is the mountain road of Higurashi, the Day's-End Mountain, as the night grows late—yet on every treetop the autumn leaves shine out like lamps.
Gosen Wakashu - Sugawara no Michizane
Kusamakura tabi to narinaba Yama no be ni shirakumo naranu ware ya yadoramu
If this pilgrimage, pillowed on grass, becomes a true journey, shall I, who am no white cloud, take lodging at Yama no Be, the mountain's side?
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Mizu mo se ni ukinuru toki wa shigarami no uchi no to no to mo mienu momijiba
When the autumn leaves float so thick that they crowd the water's face, one cannot tell whether they lie inside the weir or outside it.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Hana sakite mi naranu mono wa watatsuumi no kazashi ni saseru okitsu shiranami
The flower that blooms but never bears fruit is the white wave of the open sea, which the sea god wears as a blossom in his hair.
Gosen Wakashu - Ono no Komachi