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Hyakunin Isshu: poem 54 (Mother of the Honorary Grand Minister・wasureji no)

My fear is that you will forget your promise to never forget me, so I would prefer to die now while I am still happy. 

Hyakunin Isshu: poem 9 (Ono no Komachi・hana no iro wa)

So the flower has wilted during the long spring rains, just as my beauty has faded during my forlorn years in this world.

Hyakunin Isshu: poem 35 (Ki no Tsurayuki・hito wa isa)

In order for us to find our way home, the plum blossoms still smell the same.

Tosa Nikki: from the record of the Ninth Day of the First Month

Presently, the boat passed the Uda pine woods. It was impossible to imagine how many trees might be standing there, or how many thousands of years they might have lived. The waves came up to their roots, and cranes flew back and forth among the branches. Too deeply moved to admire the spectacle in silence, one passenger composed a poem that went something like this:

Hyakunin Isshu: poem 64 (Fujiwara no Sadayori・asaborake uji...)

The hazy early morning mist over Uji River fades to reveal fishing nets in the shallows. *