Ikemizu no iiizuru koto no katakereba migomori nagara toshi zo henikeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

池水のいひ出づることのかたければ
みごもりながら年ぞ経にける

Roma-ji: Ikemizu no iiizuru koto no katakereba migomori nagara toshi zo henikeru
English Translation: Like the pond water
that cannot flow out with ease,
I could not speak—
and hidden in its depths,
the years have gone by
Meaning: As pond water cannot easily flow out through its sluice, I found it hard to speak my love, and so, hidden as if under water, I have let the years go by.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 890

Headnote: "Sent to Taifu."
The poet says that as pond water finds it hard to flow out, he finds it hard to speak, and so he has passed the years hidden as if under water. He likens a love long kept secret and never confessed to pond water that never flows out.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to Taifu. It closes Love Poems IV. Where the opening poem, 795, likened love's thoughts to rain overflowing from the sky, this poem entrusts them to water shut up in a pond, so the beginning and end of the book answer each other through images of water.
The poet, listed as "Atsutada Ason," was Fujiwara no Atsutada. The third son of Minister of the Left Fujiwara no Tokihira, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor. One of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals, his "aimite no nochi no kokoro ni kurabureba" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Ikemizu no," means "of the pond water," leading into "ii" in the second line.
The second line, "iiizuru koto no," means "speaking out," with "ii" joining "ii," to say, and "ii," the sluice through which pond water flows. It is a hypermetric line of eight syllables.
The third line, "katakereba," means "because it is hard," with "ba" marking a settled condition.
The fourth line, "migomori nagara," means "staying hidden under water," a figure for keeping one's love hidden in the heart.
The last line, "toshi zo henikeru," means "the years have passed," with "zo" an emphatic binding particle closed by the attributive "keru." Like the opening poem, 795, it entrusts love to water as it closes the book.
Author: Fujiwara no Atsutada
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Namidagawa ika naru se yori kaeriken minaruru mio mo ayashikarishi o
Next Poem: Ise no umi ni asobu ama tomo narinishika nami kakiwakete mirume kazukamu