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- Gosen Wakashu
Yo no naka no kanashiki koto o kiku no ue ni oku shiratsuyu zo namida narikeru
Hearing of this sorrow in the world, I find that the white dew settling on the chrysanthemums is my own tears.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Morifumi
Kiku ni dani tsuyukekaruran hito no yo o me ni mishi sode o omoiyaranan
If merely hearing of it leaves you as dew-drenched as the chrysanthemums, then imagine my sleeves, which saw this parting of human life with their own eyes.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kiyotada
Hikiueshi futaba no matsu wa arinagara kimi ga chitose no naki zo kanashiki
The little two-leaved pine we planted is still here, yet you, for whom we wished a thousand years, are gone—that is what grieves me.
Gosen Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki
Kimi masade toshi wa henuredo furusato ni tsukisenu mono wa namida narikeri
Though years have passed since you left us, in this old house the one thing that never runs out is our tears.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Suginikeru hito o aki shi mo tou kara ni sode wa momiji no iro ni koso nare
Because I came in autumn to call on one who had already passed away, my sleeves have turned the color of crimson leaves.
Gosen Wakashu - The Priest Kaisen
Sode kawaku toki nakaritsuru waga mi ni wa furu o ame to mo omowazarikeri
To me, whose sleeves have never once been dry, what was falling did not even seem to be rain.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Furusato ni kimi wa izura to machitowaba izure no sora no kasumi to iwamashi
If at our old home those who waited should ask me, "Where is he?" in which sky's haze should I tell them he has become?
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Kimi ga inishi kata ya izure zo shirakumo no nushi naki yado to miru ga kanashisa
Which way have you gone? How sad to look on this house where white clouds hang, a house that no longer has its master.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kiyotada
Wabibito no tamoto ni kimi ga utsuri seba fuji no hana to zo iro wa miemashi
Had you been there, reflected on the sleeves of one sunk in sorrow, their color would have looked like wisteria blossoms.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Yoso ni oru sode dani hichishi fujigoromo namida ni hana mo miezu zo aramashi
If even my sleeves, far away, were soaked with tears, then on your wisteria robe of mourning no flowers would have shown through the tears.
Gosen Wakashu - Unknown Poet
Hodo mo naku tare mo okurenu yo naredomo tomaru wa yuku o kanashi to zo miru
Before long no one in this world will be left behind—and yet those who remain look upon those who go and find it sad.
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Toki no ma mo nagusametsuran samenu ma wa yume ni dani minu ware zo kanashiki
You must have found comfort, if only for a moment, until you woke—it is I, who cannot see him even in dreams, who am truly sad.
Gosen Wakashu - Daughter of Fujiwara no Harukami
Kanashisa no nagusamu beku mo arazaritsu yume no uchi ni mo yume to miyureba
My sorrow was not eased at all—for even inside the dream, I could see that it was only a dream.
Gosen Wakashu - Taifu
Kakete dani waga mi no ue to omoiki ya komu toshi haru no hana o miji to wa
Did you ever think, even for a moment, that it would be your own fate never to see the blossoms of next spring?
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Naku koe ni soite namida wa noboranedo kumo no ue yori ame to fururan
Though tears do not rise up with the crane's grieving cries, why should they fall as rain from above the clouds?
Gosen Wakashu - Ise
Naki hito no tomo ni shi kaeru toshi naraba kureyuku kyō wa ureshikaramashi
If this were a year that would return bringing her back along with it, how glad I would be on this day as it darkens to its close.
Gosen Wakashu - Fujiwara no Kanesuke