Komorinu no shita yu koiamari shiranami no ichishiroku idenu hito no shirubeku

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

Roma-ji: Komorinu no shita yu koiamari shiranami no ichishiroku idenu hito no shirubeku
English Translation: Like a hidden marsh,
my secret love overflowed
from deep beneath, and
like white waves it has burst forth
for everyone to know
Meaning: Like a hidden marsh, my secret love overflowed from deep within, and now, plain as white waves, it has come out for all the world to see.
Commentary: Book Seventeen 3935

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Twelve poems sent by Lady Heguri to Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi, Governor of Etchū"
The love she had nursed in secret overflowed and showed itself so plainly that others noticed—a poem of hidden love revealed. This is one of twelve poems that Lady Heguri entrusted to messengers from time to time and sent to Yakamochi, who had left the capital as Governor of Etchū. The irrepressible emergence of a love hidden from others is expressed through the contrasting images of a hidden marsh and white waves.
The poet, Lady Heguri, was a woman of the Heguri clan whose life is otherwise unknown. She was one of the women who exchanged love poems with Yakamochi.
The left note reads, "The above twelve poems were sent from time to time by passing messengers; they were not sent all at once."

First line, "komorinu no": a marsh hidden under growth with no outflow, a pillow word for shita ("beneath").
Second line, "shita yu koiamari": shita is the depths of the heart and yu marks a starting point—"love overflowing from the depths." The line is hypermetric (eight morae).
Third line, "shiranami no": "white waves," a pillow word for ichishiroku ("plainly"), from their conspicuous whiteness. The quiet hidden marsh of the first line is set against rising white waves.
Fourth line, "ichishiroku idenu": ichishiroku means "plainly"; "it has come out," where the poem pauses.
Fifth line, "hito no shirubeku": "so that others would know," closing memorably on the love's exposure through inversion.
Author: Lady Heguri
Source: Manyoshu
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