Shiramanago mitsu no hanyū no iro ni idete iwanaku nomi zo a ga kōraku wa

白真砂御津の埴生の色に出でて
言はなくのみぞ我が恋ふらくは

Roma-ji: Shiramanago mitsu no hanyū no iro ni idete iwanaku nomi zo a ga kōraku wa
English Translation: White and fine the sands
of Mitsu, and its yellow clay
shows a vivid hue;
I only do not show it
in my face, this love of mine
Meaning: Like the colored clay of Mitsu with its fine white sands, it is only that I do not let it show and speak of it, this love of mine.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2725

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Calling up the vivid yellow clay of the shore at Mitsu with its beautiful white sands, the speaker insists that the love is there in the heart; it is only that it is not shown in the face or put into words. The bright color of the scene paradoxically impresses on us the depth of an unspoken love.
As a poem expressing feelings through things, it speaks through the color of the soil on the shore at Mitsu in Naniwa. From the unease about the future in "yukue shirazu" and "nochi wa shiranedo," the sequence turns here to the theme of a love that is kept from showing.
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, "shiramanago": "fine white sand," describing Mitsu with its stretches of white beach and leading into the next line.
Second line, "mitsu no hanyū no": "of the clay of Mitsu." Mitsu is the harbor of Naniwa, and "hanyū" is red or yellow clay, or ground where it is found; the original script writes it as "yellow earth."
Third line, "iro ni idete": "showing it in my face." The first two lines form a preface, leading from the "color" of the clay to the same word in "iro ni izu," "to show in one's face."
Fourth line, "iwanaku nomi zo": "it is only that I do not say it." "Naku" is the nominalized form of the negative "zu"; the particle "zo" gives the statement force, and there is an inversion with the last line.
Fifth line, "a ga kōraku wa": "this love of mine." "Kōraku" is the nominalized form of "kou," "to love"; receiving the emphasis of "zo," the inversion names the love only at the end and leaves a lingering echo.
Source: Manyoshu
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