KKS Kanajo 1

Translation

Yamato poems take human hearts as their seeds, and become ten thousand words. People in the world encounter many events, so they entrust what they think in their hearts to what they see and hear and sent forth speech. When we hear the warblers chirping in the flowers and the voices of the frogs who live in the water, what among living things does not compose poetry? What can move the heavens without expending strength, make unseen gods and demons feel pathos, soften the relations between men and women, and soothe the hearts of fierce warriors, is poetry.

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Yamato poems

The word uta that is used here as "poem" has a broader meaning, one that encompasses folk songs and other chants as well as poetry (whether chanted, sung, or read silently or out loud). The word is variously used with a broader or narrower meaning, but any use of the term "poem" may also have the suggestion of a song as well. This is the only use of Yamatouta ("Yamato poem") in the KKS, but uses in other sources show that it generally indicates a Japanese poem in contrast to a Chinese one. Yamato is the name of a province or area of Japan, but it also used more broadly to refer to Japan as a whole.

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Japanese Text

倭歌やまとうたは人の心を種として、よろづの言の葉とぞなれりける。世の中にある人、事・業わざ繁げきものなれば、心に思ふことを見るもの聞くものにつけて言ひ出だせるなり。花に鳴く鶯うぐひす、水に住む蛙かはづの声を聞けば、生きとし生けるもの、いづれか歌を詠まざりける。力をも入れずして、天地あめつちを動かし、目に見えぬ鬼神おにかみをもあはれと思はせ、男女の仲をも和らげ、猛たけき武士もののふの心をも慰なぐさむるは歌なり。