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- Manyoshu
Aohata no kohata no ue o kayou to wa me ni wa miredomo tada ni awanu kamo
I can see with my own eyes your spirit passing back and forth above Kohata, green as banners—yet I cannot meet you face to face.
Manyoshu - Yamato no Hime no Ōkimi
Hito wa yoshi omoiyamu tomo tamakazura kage ni mietsutsu wasuraenu kamo
Others may cease to long for you, but for me your image keeps appearing before my eyes, and I cannot forget you.
Manyoshu - Yamato no Hime no Ōkimi
Kakaramu to kanete shiriseba ōmifune hateshi tomari ni shime yuwamashi o
Had I known long ago that it would come to this, I would have strung a sacred rope across the harbor where our lord's great ship came to anchor.
Manyoshu - Princess Nukata
Yasumishishi wago ōkimi no ōmifune machi ka kouramu shiga no karasaki
Is it waiting still and yearning for the great ship of our lord who ruled the land—the cape of Karasaki at Shiga?
Manyoshu - Toneri no Enami
Sasanami no ōyamamori wa ta ga tame ka yama ni shime yuu kimi mo aranaku ni
For whom do the wardens of the hills at Sasanami still stretch their sacred ropes across the mountain, when our lord is here no more?
Manyoshu - Lady Ishikawa, Consort
Miwayama no yamabe masoyū mijikayū kaku nomi kara ni nagaku to omoiki
Like the short hemp cloth offered to the gods on the slopes of Mount Miwa, her life was only so short, yet I had thought it would be long.
Manyoshu - Prince Takechi
Yamabuki no tachiyosoitaru yamashimizu kumi ni yukamedo michi no shiranaku
Yellow kerria blossoms stand adorning the clear mountain spring; I would go there to draw its water, but I do not know the way.
Manyoshu - Prince Takechi
Kitayama ni tanabiku kumo no aokumo no hoshi sakari yuki tsuki o hanarete
The clouds trailing over the northern hills, those pale blue clouds, drift away from the stars and part from the moon.
Manyoshu - Empress Jito
Kamukaze no ise no kuni ni mo aramashi o nani shika kikemu kimi mo aranaku ni
I should have stayed in Ise, land of the divine wind. Why have I come here, now that you are no longer alive?
Manyoshu - Princess Ōku
Mimaku hori waga suru kimi mo aranaku ni nani shika kikemu uma tsukaruru ni
You whom I so longed to see are here no longer. Why have I come, only to tire out my horse?
Manyoshu - Princess Ōku
Utsusomi no hito ni aru ware ya asu yori wa futakamiyama o irose to waga mimu
I who am still a person of this living world—from tomorrow on, I will look upon Mount Futakami as my dear brother.
Manyoshu - Princess Ōku
Iso no ue ni ouru ashibi o taorame do misubeki kimi ga ari to iwanaku ni
I would break off a spray of ashibi blooming on the rocks by the water, but no one tells me that you, to whom I would show it, are still alive.
Manyoshu - Princess Ōku
Hisakata no ame miru gotoku augimishi miko no mikado no aremaku oshi mo
The prince's palace, which we looked up to as one gazes at the heavens—how sad it is that it will now fall into ruin.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Akanesasu hi wa teraseredo nubatama no yo wataru tsuki no kakuraku oshi mo
Though the red-glowing sun still shines, how I grieve that the moon crossing the black night has gone into hiding.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Shima no miya magari no ike no hanachidori hitome ni koite ike ni kazukazu
The birds set free on the winding Magari pond of the Shima Palace, longing for the sight of people, will not dive into the water.
Manyoshu - Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Takaterasu waga hi no miko no yorozuyo ni kuni shirasamashi shima no miya wa mo
O the Shima Palace, from which our high-shining prince, child of the sun, should have ruled the land for ten thousand ages!