classic waka stream

  • Top
  • -
  • Shin Kokin Wakashu

Miyoshino wa yama mo kasumite shirayuki no furinishi sato ni haru wa kinikeri

The mountains of Yoshino have grown hazy, and to this old village, where the white snow was falling, spring has come at last.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Yoshitsune

show detail

Honobono to haru koso sora ni kinikerashi ama no kaguyama kasumi tanabiku

The sky pales faintly with dawn, and it seems that spring has come first to the heavens: mist is trailing across Ama-no-Kaguyama.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Go-Toba In

show detail

Yama fukami haru to mo shiranu matsu no to ni taedae kakaru yuki no tamamizu

So deep are the mountains that the pine-wood door does not know spring has come, and onto it, drop by broken drop, falls the jewel-like water of melting snow.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Princess Shokushi

show detail

Kakikurashi nao furusato no yuki no uchi ni ato koso miene haru wa kinikeri

The sky darkens and the snow goes on falling over the old capital; no footprint shows in it, and yet spring has come.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Kunaikyo

show detail

Kyō to ieba morokoshi made mo yuku haru o miyako ni nomi to omoikeru kana

Today the calendar turns, and spring travels as far as China itself; and I had thought all this while that it belonged to the capital alone.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Shunzei

show detail

Haru to ieba kasuminikeri na kinō made namima ni mieshi awajishimayama

They have only to say it is spring, and already it has hazed over: Awaji's mountains, which until yesterday stood clear between the waves.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - The Monk Shune

show detail

Iwama tojishi kōri mo kesa wa tokesomete koke no shitamizu michi motomuramu

The ice that sealed the gaps between the rocks has begun to melt this morning, and the water under the moss must be feeling for a way through.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - The Monk Saigyo

show detail

Kaze mase ni yuki wa furitsutsu shikasuga ni kasumi tanabiki haru wa kinikeri

Snow is still driving on the wind, and yet for all that the mist trails out across the sky, and spring has come.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

show detail

Toki wa ima haru ni narinu to miyuki furu tōki yamabe ni kasumi tanabiku

The season has just turned to spring, and out where the deep snow falls, along the distant hills, the mist lies trailing.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Unknown Poet

show detail

Kasugano no shitamoewataru kusa no ue ni tsurenaku miyuru haru no awayuki

Across Kasuga Moor the grass is coming up everywhere, and on it, taking no notice at all, lies the thin snow of spring.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Minamoto no Kunizane

show detail

Asu kara wa wakana tsumamu to shimeshi no ni kinō mo kyō mo yuki wa furitsutsu

I marked out the field, meaning to gather young herbs there from tomorrow; and yesterday and today alike, the snow goes on falling.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Yamabe no Akahito

show detail

Kasugano no kusa wa midori ni narinikeri wakana tsumamu to tare ka shimekemu

The grass on Kasuga Moor has turned green at last. Who was it, then, that marked this field off, meaning to gather young herbs here?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Mibu no Tadami

show detail

Wakana tsumu sode to zo miyuru Kasugano no tobuhi no nobe no yuki no muragie

They look for all the world like the sleeves of herb-gatherers: the patches of snow still unmelted out on the Tobuhi fields of Kasuga Moor.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Norinaga

show detail

Yukite minu hito mo shinobe to haru no no no katami ni tsumeru wakana narikeri

So that those who never went out to see it might think of it too, these young herbs were gathered as a keepsake of the fields in spring.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Ki no Tsurayuki

show detail

Sawa ni ouru wakana naranedo itazura ni toshi o tsumu ni mo sode wa nurekeri

I am no young herb growing in the marsh; and yet, as I go on piling up the years to no purpose, my sleeves are wet all the same.

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Shunzei

show detail

Sasanami ya Shiga no hamamatsu furinikeri taga yo ni hikeru ne no hi naruramu

The shore pines of Shiga have grown old indeed. In whose reign, I wonder, were they drawn up as seedlings on the first day of the Rat?

Shin Kokin Wakashu - Fujiwara no Shunzei

show detail