Yūkori no shimo okinikeri asatode ni itaku shi fumite hito ni shirayu na

夕凝りの霜置きにけり朝戸出に
いたくし踏みて人に知らゆな

Roma-ji: Yūkori no shimo okinikeri asatode ni itaku shi fumite hito ni shirayu na
English Translation: Through the evening chill
the hoarfrost has settled thick;
leaving at the dawn,
do not tread too heavily
lest others come to know
Meaning: The frost that set in the evening has settled thick. When you leave my door at dawn, do not tread on it too heavily and let others learn of us.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2692

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Frost that congealed in the evening lies everywhere, so do not tread hard on it when you leave in the morning and let others find out: so a woman cautions her lover. It shows the careful attention of a secret love that fears the footprints left in the frost will reveal the pair.
After the sequence on dew, this poem is placed as one on frost. The next poem wishes to become the earth trodden by the beloved, sharing the word "tread." Here treading is feared because it will make the affair known, while in the next poem the speaker longs to be the earth that is trodden, reversing the conceit around the act of treading.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "yūkori no": "congealed in the evening," modifying the frost that follows; it describes frost set hard by the night's cold.
Second line, "shimo okinikeri": "the frost has settled." "Nikeri," the perfective "nu" with the exclamatory "keri," expresses surprise at noticing it, and the poem pauses here.
Third line, "asatode ni": "on going out the door at dawn," pointing to the parting at daybreak when the man leaves the woman's house.
Fourth line, "itaku shi fumite": "treading heavily." The emphatic "shi" conveys her worry that his footprints will be plainly left.
Fifth line, "hito ni shirayu na": "do not be found out by others." "Yu" in "shirayu" is a passive auxiliary and "na" a prohibitive particle, closing with a plea to her lover.
Source: Manyoshu
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