Waga koi wa obana fukikosu akikaze no oto ni wa tateji mi ni wa shimu tomo - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我が恋は尾花吹き越す秋風の
音には立てじ身にはしむとも

Roma-ji: Waga koi wa obana fukikosu akikaze no oto ni wa tateji mi ni wa shimu tomo
English Translation: This love of mine is
like the autumn wind that sweeps
across the plumes of grass:
I shall never let it sound,
though it pierce me to the bone
Meaning: My love is like the autumn wind that sweeps over the plumed grasses. Even if it pierces me to the bone, I will not let it make a sound for others to hear.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 671

Headnote: "Composed when the courtiers presented hundred-poem sequences in the reign of Emperor Nijō"
Composed when the courtiers presented hundred-poem sequences in the reign of Emperor Nijō. My love, he says, is like the autumn wind sweeping over the plumed grasses: though it pierce me, I will not let it sound. Likening his love to the autumn wind that stirs the plumes of pampas grass, he voices the resolve of a hidden love never to let others hear of it, however bitterly it pierces him.
The author, "Minamoto no Michiyoshi Ason," was an official and poet of the late Heian period. Little is known of his career.
It shares with "oto ni nomi ya wa" in 652 of this book a love sung through the "sound" of the wind.

First line, "waga koi wa": "my love," which the rest of the poem likens to the autumn wind.
Second line, "obana fukikosu": "obana" is the plume of pampas grass, "sweeping over the plumes."
Third line, "akikaze no": "like the autumn wind." The autumn wind is sung of as something that pierces the body.
Fourth line, "oto ni wa tateji": "oto ni tatsu" means to make a sound and be known by others, and "ji" is the negative volitional, "I will not let it sound." The poem pauses here and stands in inverted order with the last line. Like "oto ni nomi ya wa" in the fourth line of 652, it sings of the sound of the wind.
Fifth line, "mi ni wa shimu tomo": "shimu" means to pierce the body, and "tomo" is a concessive hypothesis, "even if it pierces me." It is used in keeping with the autumn wind.
Author: Minamoto no Michiyoshi
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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