I wish the mountaintop would flee the moon
And delay the darkening of its light.
Ariwara no Narihira
I wish the mountaintop would flee the moon
And delay the darkening of its light.
Ariwara no Narihira
The sun goes down—
but evening light remains
in the leaves.
Nijō Yoshimoto
Now cat’s done
mewing, bedroom’s
touched by moonlight.
Matsuo Bashō
From dying sunlight, stroke by stroke, it grows
in layers, as if splitting shades of rose.
A heavenly wind cut it to pieces,
it seems, to make the fairies clothes.
Wang Zhou
Geese, geese, geese,
curved necks singing to the sky.
They float on green, feathery white,
red feet stirring waves of light.
Luo Binwang
Firefly viewing—
The steersman is drunk
And how unsteady the boat!
Matsuo Bashō
As if blossoms have
fallen from the harvest moon—
the cotton field.
Matsuo Bashō
This perfectly still
Spring day bathed in the soft light
From the vaulted sky,
Why do the cherry blossoms
So restlessly scatter down?
Ki no Tomonori
It lights up
as lightly as it fades:
a firefly.
Chine
Oh what ails you?
Do not betray me, I implore you.
Before he comes back, get up, never ruin yourself,
do not ruin me a poor wretched sinner.
It is day now, see the light through the window,
do you not see it?
Anonymous