世の中を　憂しとやさしと　おもへども　飛び立ちかねつ　鳥にしあらねば

Yononaka wo
Ushi to yasashi to
Omo(h)e domo
Tobitachi kanetsu
Tori ni shi arane ba

I feel the life is
sorrowful and unbearable
though
I can’t flee away
since I am not a bird.

-Yamanoue no Okurachōka

“A Dialogue of two Poormen (貧窮問答歌, Hinkyū mondōka)”

Art by Utagawa Hiroshige, “Sparrow and White-headed Bird on Maple Branch”