Tanka

TANKA
Translated by Arthur Waley

/The Priest Hakutsu (c.704)

O pine tree standing
At the side of the stone house,
When I look at you,
It is like seeing face to face
The men of old time.

/Otomo No Tabito (665-731)

To sit silent
And look wise
Is not to be compared with
Drinking sake
And making a riotous shouting.

/Yakamochi

(These) meetings in dreams,
How sad they are!
When walking up startled
One gropes about –
And there is no contact to the hand.

/Hitomaro

May the men who are born
From my time onwards
Never, never meet
With a path of love-making
Such as mine has been!

/Ki No Akimine (9th century)

The beloved person must I think
Have entered
The summer mountain
For the cuckoo is singing
With a louder note.

/Anonymous

They say there is
A still pool even in the middle of
The rushing whirlpool, -
Why is there none in the whirlpool of my love?

/Ono No Yoshiki

My love
Is like the grasses
Hidden in the deep mountain:
Though its abundance increases,
There is none that knows.