Komorinu no shita ni koureba akitarazu hito ni kataritsu imu beki mono o

隠り沼の下に恋ふれば飽き足らず
人に語りつ忌むべきものを

Roma-ji: Komorinu no shita ni koureba akitarazu hito ni kataritsu imu beki mono o
English Translation: Like a hidden marsh
I loved you deep down inside,
but, unsatisfied,
I have spoken it to others,
though I should have held my tongue
Meaning: Loving you secretly within my heart left me unsatisfied, and I have told it to others, though it was something I ought to have kept to myself.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2719

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Loving in secret within the heart leaves the speaker unsatisfied, and at last the love is confided to others; the poem voices regret for this. Knowing that one ought to refrain from speaking of love, yet unable to hold back, the speaker frankly admits the weakness of the heart.
Through a hidden marsh, the poem expresses love concealed deep in the heart. Whereas the preceding poem vows never to reveal love even at the cost of dying, this poem regrets having failed to keep it secret and having told others, so the two poems form two sides of hidden love.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not been handed down.

First line, "komorinu no": "of the hidden marsh," a marsh covered with plants from which no water flows out; a pillow word attached to "shita" (beneath). The unseen depths of the marsh stand for the hidden depths of the heart.
Second line, "shita ni koureba": "as I love in secret within." "Shita" means the inner heart that is not shown. "Koureba" is the realis form with "ba," expressing an established condition.
Third line, "akitarazu": "unsatisfied," the heart unable to settle merely by keeping love hidden.
Fourth line, "hito ni kataritsu": "I have told it to others." The perfective auxiliary "tsu" conveys the sense of having done something that cannot be undone. The poem pauses here.
Fifth line, "imu beki mono o": "though it was something to be avoided." "Mono o" expresses concessive exclamation, and inversion with the fourth line strengthens the regret.
Source: Manyoshu
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