Shima no miya magari no ike no hanachidori hitome ni koite ike ni kazukazu

島の宮まがりの池の放ち鳥
人目に恋ひて池に潜かず

Roma-ji: Shima no miya magari no ike no hanachidori hitome ni koite ike ni kazukazu
English Translation: At the Shima Palace,
on the winding Magari pond,
the birds set free there
long for the sight of people
and will not dive in the pond.
Meaning: The birds set free on the winding Magari pond of the Shima Palace, longing for the sight of people, will not dive into the water.
Commentary: Book Two Elegies 170

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems composed by Kakinomoto no Asomi Hitomaro at the time of the temporary enshrinement of Prince Hinamishi, a poem in another text"
The birds Prince Kusakabe kept free on the pond of the Shima Palace, having lost their master, long so much for people that they will not dive into the pond; the poem conveys the loneliness left in the palace.
These are elegies Kakinomoto no Hitomaro composed during the temporary enshrinement of Prince Kusakabe, when his body lay in state before burial. The long poem 167 is a major work that begins from the myth of the creation of heaven and earth and goes on to mourn the prince's death. Prince Kusakabe, son of Emperor Tenmu and Empress Jitō, died as Crown Prince in the third year of Jitō's reign (689) and was honored as Hinamishi no Miko no Mikoto. This poem is appended after the two envoys as one transmitted in another text.
The author, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jitō and Emperor Monmu. A master of the long poem and the elegy, he is the representative poet of the Man'yōshū and was later revered as the Saint of Poetry.

The first line, "shima no miya," is Prince Kusakabe's palace at Shima in Asuka, said to be so named because its garden was laid out with ponds and islands.
The second line, "magari no ike no," names a pond in the Shima Palace.
The third line, "hanachidori," means birds kept free on the pond. Birds set free also appear in 172 by the attendants in this book, so that the birds here that long for people and the birds there that are feared to grow wild and leave form a pair.
The fourth line, "hitome ni koite," means "longing for the sight of people."
The final line, "ike ni kazukazu," means "they will not dive into the pond," overlaying the grief of the palace people on the birds.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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