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- Manyoshu
Koromode ni mishibu tsuku made ueshi ta o hikita waga hae mamoreru kurushi
The rice field I planted until my sleeves were stained with rusty water: how hard it is to stand guard over it, stretching out the clapper ropes.
Sahogawa no mizu o sekiagete ueshi ta o kareru hatsuii wa hitori narubeshi
The rice field planted with water dammed up from the Saho River: the first rice cooked from its harvest will surely be eaten by one alone.
Manyoshu - A nun and Ōtomo no Yakamochi
Ōkuchi no makami no hara ni furu yuki wa itaku na furiso ie mo aranaku ni
O snow falling on Makami Plain, do not fall so heavily, for there is no house here where I might take shelter.
Manyoshu - Toneri no Otome
Hadasusuki obana sakafuki kuroki mochi tsukureru muro wa yorozuyo made ni
This house, thatched with pampas plumes laid upside down and built of unbarked timber, will stand for ten thousand ages.
Manyoshu - Empress Genshō
Aoniyoshi nara no yama naru kuroki mochi tsukureru muro wa masedo akanu kamo
This house built of unbarked timber from the hills of Nara: however long I stay, I never tire of it.
Manyoshu - Emperor Shōmu
Awayuki no hodoro hodoro ni furishikeba nara no miyako shi omooyuru kamo
When the light snow falls and settles thinly here and there, I find myself longing for the capital of Nara.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Waga oka ni sakari ni sakeru ume no hana nokoreru yuki o magaetsuru kamo
The plum blossoms in full bloom on my hill can hardly be told apart from the lingering snow.
Manyoshu - Ōtomo no Tabito
Awayuki ni furaete sakeru ume no hana kimi gari yaraba yosoetemu kamo
If I send you these plum blossoms that opened under the light snow, will you look on them as a likeness of me?
Manyoshu - Tsuno no Kōben
Tanagirai yuki mo furanu ka ume no hana sakanu ga shiro ni soete dani mimu
Will snow not fall, clouding all the sky? Since the plum has not yet bloomed, I would at least gaze on the snow in place of its flowers.
Manyoshu - Abe no Okimichi
Amagirashi yuki mo furanu ka ichishiroku kono itsushiba ni furamaku o mimu
Will snow not fall, clouding the heavens? I would watch it settle, clear and white, on this thick brushwood.
Manyoshu - Wakasakurabe no Kimitari
Hikiyojite oraba chirubemi ume no hana sode ni kokiiretsu shimaba shimu tomo
Afraid the plum blossoms would scatter if I pulled the branch down to break it, I stripped them into my sleeve; let it be stained with their color if it will.
Manyoshu - Mino no Iwamori
Waga yado no fuyuki no ue ni furu yuki o ume no hana ka to uchimitsuru kamo
The snow falling on the bare winter trees in my garden: for a moment I took it for plum blossoms.
Manyoshu - Kose no Sukunamaro
Nubatama no koyoi no yuki ni iza nurena akemu ashita ni kenaba oshikemu
Come, let us get wet in tonight's snow; how we would regret it if it melted by the time the morning dawns.
Manyoshu - Oharida no Azumamaro
Ume no hana e ni ka chiru to miru made ni kaze ni midarete yuki zo furikuru
So wildly does the snow come swirling down in the wind that it seems as if plum blossoms were falling from the branches.
Manyoshu - Imibe no Kuromaro
Shiwasu ni wa awayuki furu to shirane kamo ume no hana saku fufumerazu shite
Does it not know that light snow falls in the twelfth month? The plum is in bloom, without waiting in bud.
Manyoshu - Ki no Iratsume
Kyō furishi yuki ni kioite waga yado no fuyuki no ume wa hana sakinikeri
As if vying with the snow that fell today, the bare winter plum tree in my garden has burst into flower.
Manyoshu - Otomo no Yakamochi