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- Murasaki Shikibu Nikki
Ominaeshi sakari no iro o miru kara ni tsuyu no wakikeru mi koso shirarure
The moment I look upon the maidenflower in the full color of its prime, I am made to feel how the dew has set me apart, passing me over and leaving its blessing elsewhere.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Murasaki Shikibu
Shiratsuyu wa wakitemo okaji ominaeshi kokoro kara ni ya iro no somuramu
Surely the white dew does not choose where to settle. Is it not by its own heart that the maidenflower is dyed in such lovely color?
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Fujiwara no Michinaga
Kii no kuni no shirara no hama ni hirou chō kono ishi koso wa iwao tomo nare
This very stone, said to be gathered on the white shore of Shirara in the land of Kii, is the one that will one day grow into a mighty rock.
Kiku no tsuyu wakayu bakari ni sode furete hana no aruji ni chiyo wa yuzuramu
I will touch the chrysanthemum dew with my sleeve only enough to grow a little younger, and leave the thousand years of life to you, the mistress of these flowers.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Murasaki Shikibu
Mezurashiki hikari sashisou sakazuki wa mochinagara koso chiyo mo megurame
This cup, newly graced by a wondrous light, will be passed from hand to hand, unwaning like the full moon, for a thousand years to come.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Murasaki Shikibu
Mizutori o mizu no ue to ya yoso ni mimu ware mo ukitaru yo o sugushitsutsu
How can I look upon the waterbirds as creatures apart, merely playing upon the water? I too pass my days adrift in a restless, sorrowful world.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Murasaki Shikibu
Kumoma naku nagamuru sora mo kakikurashi ika ni shinoburu shigure naruramu
The sky I gaze upon in brooding thought, without a single break in the clouds, has darkened all over. For whom, I wonder, does this autumn shower fall in longing?
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Lady Koshōshō
Kotowari no shigure no sora wa kumoma aredo nagamuru sode zo kawaku ma mo naki
The autumn sky, where showers are only to be expected, still has its breaks between the clouds; but the sleeves of one who gazes in sorrow never have a moment to dry.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Murasaki Shikibu
Ika ni ikaga kazoeyarubeki yachitose no amari hisashiki kimi ga miyo oba
On this fiftieth-day celebration, how could anyone ever count to the end the reign of our young prince, which will last eight thousand years and more?
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Murasaki Shikibu
Ashitazu no yowai shi araba kimi ga yo no chitose no kazu mo kazoetoritemu
If only I had the long life of the crane, I would surely count, one by one, the thousand years of our young prince's reign.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Fujiwara no Michinaga
Ukine seshi mizu no ue nomi koishikute kamo no uwage ni sae zo otoranu
I long only for those nights at court when we slept side by side like birds afloat on the water; now the chill of sleeping alone is no less than the frost on a wild duck's feathers.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Murasaki Shikibu
Uchiharau tomo naki koro no nezame ni wa tsugaishi oshi zo yowa ni koishiki
These days I have no friend to brush the frost from my wings, and when I wake in the night, it is you, my companion who nestled beside me like a mandarin duck, whom I miss.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Lady Dainagon
Ōkarishi toyo no miyabito sashiwakite shiruki hikage o aware to zo mishi
Among all the many courtiers of the Harvest Feast, it was you, unmistakable in your sun-shade vine, whom I watched with especially deep feeling.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Murasaki Shikibu
Toshi kurete waga yo fukeyuku kaze no oto ni kokoro no uchi no susamajiki kana
The year is ending, and as the night grows late so too does my life grow old; hearing the howling wind, I find my heart cold and desolate.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Murasaki Shikibu
Sukimono to na ni shi tatereba miru hito no orade suguru wa araji to zo omou
Since you are known as a lover of romance, like the sour plum, I think no man who sees you could pass by without breaking off a branch, without trying to win you.
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Fujiwara no Michinaga
Hito ni mada orarenu mono o tare ka kono sukimono zo to wa kuchinarashikemu
No one has ever yet broken off my branch, so who could it have been that went about calling me a lover of romance?
Murasaki Shikibu Nikki - Murasaki Shikibu