Ashikaki no naka no nikogusa nikoyaka ni ware to emashite hito ni shirayu na

葦垣の中の和草にこやかに
我れと笑まして人に知らゆな

Roma-ji: Ashikaki no naka no nikogusa nikoyaka ni ware to emashite hito ni shirayu na
English Translation: Like the soft new grass
growing within the reed fence,
with a gentle smile
smile on me and me alone,
but let no one come to know
Meaning: Like the soft grass within the reed fence, smile gently with me, but do not let anyone find out.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2762

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
Like the soft grass growing inside a reed fence, smile gently with me, yet let no one learn of it: so the speaker wishes. The longing to share smiles and the wish to hide the affair from others' eyes live side by side in this single poem.
Belonging to the category "Expressing Feelings through Things," the poem stands in a sequence on grasses. Its charm lies in overlaying the softness of the grass on the beloved's tender smile. Where the preceding poem used the deep-rooted sedge of the mountains to express the depth of longing, this one captures a brighter side of a secret love.
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, "ashikaki no": a fence woven of reeds. It marks the enclosure of a house and suggests the confined space within it.
Second line, "naka no nikogusa": the soft grass, nikogusa, growing inside the fence. The first two lines form a preface that leads, through the repeated sound "niko," into "nikoyaka ni."
Third line, "nikoyaka ni": smiling gently. Here the preface turns into the heart of the poem.
Fourth line, "ware to emashite": "smiling together with me." "Emashi" is "emu" with the honorific auxiliary "su," conveying both affection and respect.
Fifth line, "hito ni shirayu na": "do not be known to others." "Yu" is an Old Japanese passive auxiliary and "na" a prohibitive particle, closing on the wish to keep the affair hidden.
Source: Manyoshu
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