Ike ni sumu na o oshidori no mizu o asami kakuru to suredo arawarenikeri - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

池に住む名ををし鳥の水を浅み
隠るとすれどあらはれにけり

Roma-ji: Ike ni sumu na o oshidori no mizu o asami kakuru to suredo arawarenikeri
English Translation: Like the mandarin duck
that dwells in the pond, I grudged my name,
but the water was shallow,
and though I tried to hide
it has all come to light
Meaning: Like a mandarin duck in a pond whose water is too shallow to hide in, I tried to conceal my love, grudging my name, yet it has come to light.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 672

Headnote: "Topic unknown."
As a mandarin duck in a pond cannot hide in the shallow water, the poet tried to hide love for fear of rumor, but it became known. With oshi punning on "grudging one's name" and the mandarin duck, a bird emblematic of devoted couples, it conveys a love that cannot be concealed.
The author is recorded as anonymous, and the name has not come down to us.
Where the grebe "dwelling in the winter pond" in poem 662 of this book dived to the bottom to hide love, the mandarin duck "dwelling in the pond" here cannot hide in the shallow water, the two waterbird images forming a contrast.

The first line, "ike ni sumu," means "dwelling in the pond," the same conceit as the second line of poem 662.
The second line, "na o oshidori no," uses oshi as a pivot word for "grudge" and the mandarin duck, overlaying concern for one's name with the bird.
The third line, "mizu o asami," means "since the water is shallow," the suffix mi giving the reason.
The fourth line, "kakuru to suredo," means "though I try to hide," continuing adversatively.
The final line, "arawarenikeri," means "it has come to light," closing with the perfective nu and exclamatory keri.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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