隠り沼の下ゆ恋ひあまり白波の
いちしろく出でぬ人の知るべく
いちしろく出でぬ人の知るべく
- Roma-ji
-
Komorinu no shita yu koiamari shiranami no ichishiroku idenu hito no shirubeku
- English Translation
-
Like a hidden marsh,
deep beneath I loved, till love
spilled over, and like
white waves it broke out plainly,
for all the world to see
- Meaning
- I loved in secret like a hidden marsh, until love overflowed and broke out plain as white waves, for everyone to see.
- Commentary
-
Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts through Things 3023
Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts through Things"
A love hidden deep within has overflowed and broken out as plainly as white waves. The secret love vowed in 3021, never to sigh so that others would know, has finally come to light, and this poem concludes the sequence of three.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.
Line one, "komorinu no," is a pillow word for "shita," the same opening as poem 3021 in this book.
Line two, "shita yu koiamari," means "loving deep within until it overflowed," a hypermetric line of eight syllables.
Line three, "shiranami no," means "like white, conspicuous waves," leading to "ichishiroku."
Line four, "ichishiroku idenu," means "it has broken out plainly," and the poem pauses here.
Line five, "hito no shirubeku," means "so that people know." Using the same words as "hito no shirubeku nageki seme ya mo" in 3021, it shows the vow broken and forms a contrast.
- Author
- Unknown
- Source
- Manyoshu
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