Akikashiwa Uruwa kawabe no shino no me no hito ni wa shinobi kimi ni aenaku ni

秋柏潤和川辺の小竹の芽の
人には忍び君に堪へなくに

Roma-ji: Akikashiwa Uruwa kawabe no shino no me no hito ni wa shinobi kimi ni aenaku ni
English Translation: Like the autumn oak,
by the banks of Uruwa
the young bamboo shoots;
from others I hide my love,
but for you, I cannot bear it
Meaning: Like the young bamboo shoots on the banks of the Uruwa River, I hide my love from others, yet my longing for you is more than I can bear.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2478

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
The speaker hides this love from others but can no longer bear the longing for the beloved, voicing a heart in which a long-suppressed love is about to overflow. Calling up "shinobi" (hiding) from the "shino" of bamboo shoots on the riverbank, the poem conveys the pain of a love concealed from others' eyes.
This is one of the poems "Expressing Feelings through Things," a love poem set upon bamboo grass. The fourth line, "hito ni wa shinobi," and the fifth, "kimi ni aenaku ni," set side by side others and the beloved, concealment and the inability to endure, vividly showing the conflict between hiding and overflowing. Whereas poem 2470 of this book speaks of a love not hidden from others, this one speaks of a love kept secret.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "akikashiwa": a pillow word for "Uruwa," said to arise from autumn oak leaves moistened with dew, though how it attaches is debated.
Second line, "Uruwa kawabe no": "on the banks of the Uruwa River." The location of this river is unknown.
Third line, "shino no me no": "of the young shoots of bamboo grass." The first three lines form a preface, leading through the repeated sound "shino" to the following "shinobi."
Fourth line, "hito ni wa shinobi": "hiding my feelings from others." The particle "wa" distinguishes others from the "kimi" of the fifth line.
Fifth line, "kimi ni aenaku ni": "though for you I cannot endure it." "Naku ni" is the nominalized form of the negative auxiliary "zu" followed by "ni," closing the poem with a note of deep feeling.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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