Kokinshu English Translation Database

The English translation was done by “Kokinshu: A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern” (1984) Rodd, Laurel Rasplica, and MC Henkenius with the permission and kindness of Dr. Laurel Rod.

000001|spring is here before / year's end  when New Year's Day has / not yet come around / what should we call it  is it / still last year or is it this / 
000002|today  long-awaited / day when spring begins  will / the breeze melt icebound / waters in which we once dipped / cupped hands  drenching summer robes / 
000003|where is it that the / warm mists of spring are rising-- / here on the slopes / of lovely Mount Yoshino / the snows continue to fall / 
000004|spring has come amidst / the icy lingering snows / of winter  surely / now the frozen tears of the / mountain thrush will melt away / 
000005|he cries on and on / the mountain thrush perched on / branches of the plum / long-awaited spring has come / still the snows of winter fall / 
000006|has he come to see / if those are not spring's blossoms-- / white snow clusters rest / heavily on bare branches / where now the mountain thrush cries / 
000007|so longingly have I / awaited the fresh flowers / of spring  that they have / dyed my soul  and I see snow / as clustered blooms on branches / 
000008|though I bask in the / comforting warmth of spring's light / how melancholy / to think that my hair now / wears a crown of winter snow / 
000009|when the warm mists veil / all and buds swell  while yet / spring snows drift downward / even in the hibernal / village  crystal blossoms fall / 
000010|has spring come early-- / or are the plum blossoms late-- / I would like to know / but not even the song of / the mountain thrush trills the answer / 
000011|already  they say / spring is here  but as for me / while yet there is no / song from the mountain thrush  I / cannot believe spring has come / 
000012|warm breezes blowing / down the valley slopes melt the / winter's ice  at each / crack a foamy wave bubbles / upward  spring's first showy blossoms / 
000013|on the wings of the / wind  I'll send the fragrant scent / of plum blossoms / a summons of spring  to guide / that longed-for mountain thrush to me / 
000014|were it not for the / song of the mountain thrush that / rises from the glen / who would even suspect that / spring has  at long last arrived / 
000015|no flowers show their / beauties in the lonely mountain / villages  though spring / has come  the very notes of / the mountain thrush are cheerless / 
000016|because I make my / home near the fields and meadows / each and every / morning I hear the song of / the mountain thrush trilling spring / 
000017|not today  do not / burn the Kasuga Meadows / now  for here amidst / the soft spring-green grasses hide / my gentle sweetheart and I / 
000018|oh guardian of / the fields at Tobuhi / on Kasuga Plain / go out to look  how many / days before we pluck new herbs /