Omoi ni shi amari ni shikaba niodori no nazusai koshi o hito mikemu kamo

思ひにしあまりにしかばにほ鳥の
なづさひ来しを人見けむかも

Roma-ji: Omoi ni shi amari ni shikaba niodori no nazusai koshi o hito mikemu kamo
English Translation: Since my thoughts of you
have grown too great to hold back,
like the little grebe
I came struggling through the water;
I wonder if someone saw
Meaning: My longing grew beyond all bounds, so I came to you, struggling through the water like a little grebe. I wonder whether anyone saw me.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2492

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Unable to hold back a love that had grown too great, the speaker tells of coming to the beloved, struggling through the water like a little grebe, and frets over whether anyone saw. The poem holds together the intensity of being driven by longing and the unease of being seen.
Through the little grebe, which dives and swims in the water, the speaker portrays the hardship of making the journey. It follows the mandarin duck of the preceding poem as another poem on a waterbird. Book Twelve also has a poem opening "omoi ni shi amari ni shikaba," suggesting this was a set expression for love overflowing its bounds.
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, "omoi ni shi": "having kept on longing." It is the verb "omou" with "ni," the continuative form of the perfective "nu," and "shi," the attributive form of the past "ki."
Second line, "amari ni shikaba": "since it overflowed." "Amaru" with "ni," the realis "shika" of "ki," and the conjunctive "ba" gives as the reason that the longing could no longer be held back.
Third line, "niodori no": a pillow word attached to "nazusau" in the fourth line, from the way the little grebe dives and swims in the water.
Fourth line, "nazusai koshi o": "that I came struggling through the water." "Nazusau," meaning to float soaked in water, is also used for pressing on with difficulty.
Fifth line, "hito mikemu kamo": "I wonder if people saw." The past conjectural "kemu" with the questioning, exclamatory "kamo" closes on a note of anxiety over others' eyes.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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