Mizutori no kamo no sumu ike no shitabi nami ibuseki kimi o kyō mitsuru kamo

水鳥の鴨の棲む池の下樋なみ
いぶせき君を今日見つるかも

Roma-ji: Mizutori no kamo no sumu ike no shitabi nami ibuseki kimi o kyō mitsuru kamo
English Translation: Like a pond where dwell
wild ducks, the birds of water,
with no hidden sluice,
you who kept my heart so pent,
you have I seen this day at last
Meaning: Like a pond where wild ducks live that has no underground sluice to let its water out, my heart was pent up and heavy over you, and today at last I have seen you.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2720

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
As a pond where ducks dwell has no underground sluice to drain it and its water stays pent up, so the speaker's heart stayed heavy over the beloved, and the poem rejoices at finally meeting that person today. The water of a pond with no outlet is overlaid on a heart gloomy from not meeting.
The poem expresses feelings through the underground sluice of a pond. Following the two preceding poems about love kept hidden in the heart, this poem tells of the joy of meeting at last after feelings have been pent up. Among the many poems of enduring love without meeting, it is one in which a meeting comes true.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not been handed down.

First line, "mizutori no": a pillow word attached to "kamo" (wild duck).
Second line, "kamo no sumu ike no": "of the pond where ducks dwell." This line has an extra syllable.
Third line, "shitabi nami": "as there is no underground sluice." "Nami" is the stem of the adjective "nashi" with the suffix "mi," expressing a reason. It describes a pond with no outlet where water stays pent up, and the lines up to here form a preface leading to "ibuseki" in the fourth line.
Fourth line, "ibuseki kimi o": "you, over whom my heart was heavy." "Ibuseshi" describes feelings pent up so that the heart cannot clear.
Fifth line, "kyō mitsuru kamo": "today I have seen you." "Miru" means to meet, and "kamo" expresses exclamation, carrying the joy of meeting at last.
Source: Manyoshu
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