Page:Anthology of Japanese Literature.pdf/83

Wabinureba
Mi wo ukigusa no
Ne wo taete
Sasou mizu araba
Inamu to zo omou.

So lonely am I
My body is a floating weed
Severed at the roots.
Were there water to entice me,
I would follow it, I think.

Yume ni da mo
Miyu to wa mieji
Asa na asa na
Wa ga omokage ni
Hazuru mi nareba

Not even in dreams
Can I meet him any more—
My glass each morning
Reveals a face so wasted
I turn away in shame.

Fuyugare no
Nobe to waga mi wo
Omoiseba
Moede mo haru wo
Matashimono wo

If I consider
My body like the fields
Withered by winter,
Can I hope, though I am burnt,
That spring will come again?^[2]

Wa ga yado wa
Michi mo naki made
Arenikeri
Tsurenaki hito wo
Matsu to seshi ma ni

The weeds grow so thick
You cannot even see the path
That leads to my house:
It happened while I waited
For someone who would not come.