Hito shirezu tanomeshi koto wa Kashiwagi no mori ya shinikemu yo ni furinikeri - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人知れず頼めし事は柏木の
もりやしにけむ世にふりにけり

Roma-ji: Hito shirezu tanomeshi koto wa Kashiwagi no mori ya shinikemu yo ni furinikeri
English Translation: What in secret we
promised, has it leaked away
through Kashiwagi's
woods, I wonder? For it falls
now on all the world's ears.
Meaning: The promise we made in secret, did it leak out through the woods of Kashiwagi? For now it has spread through all the world.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Miscellaneous Love Poems 1222

Headnote: "When the secret vows she had exchanged with Middle Counselor Atsutada while he was Assistant Commander of the Military Guards became known to the world"
The poet asks whether the promise made in secret leaked out through the woods of Kashiwagi, for it has spread throughout the world. The headnote shows it was composed when the secret vows she had exchanged with Fujiwara no Atsutada, then Assistant Commander of the Military Guards, became known to all. Using "Kashiwagi," another name for the Military Guards, to point to Atsutada, and pivoting "mori," woods, on "mori," leaking, she reproaches him, hinting that it was he who let the secret out.
The author, Ukon, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Suenawa, Lesser Captain of the Right Inner Palace Guards, and served Onshi, empress of Emperor Daigo. She is known for her poem "wasuraruru" in the Hyakunin Isshu.
"Hyōgaisuke" in the headnote of the main text is taken as a miswriting of "Hyōe no suke," Assistant Commander of the Military Guards, and corrected.

First line, "hito shirezu," means "unknown to others," speaking of a secret bond.
Second line, "tanomeshi koto wa," means "the promise I made you trust," the vows the two exchanged.
Third line, "Kashiwagi no," means "of the woods of Kashiwagi," Kashiwagi being another name for the Military Guards and pointing to Atsutada, their Assistant Commander.
Fourth line, "mori ya shinikemu," is a pivot word: "mori" means "woods" and the secret "leaking." The binding particle "ya" is resolved by "kemu," the attributive form of the auxiliary of past conjecture, to mean "did it leak out." The poem breaks after this fourth line.
Final line, "yo ni furinikeri," means "it has spread through the world," with "furi" meaning to become old and widely known, and through the link with "leaking" also echoing rain "falling."
Author: Ukon
Source: Shui Wakashu
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