Ima wa tada shinobu kokoro zo tsutsumarenu nagekaba hito ya omoishiru tote

今はただ忍ぶ心ぞつつまれぬ
嘆かば人や思ひ知るとて

Roma-ji: Ima wa tada shinobu kokoro zo tsutsumarenu nagekaba hito ya omoishiru tote
English Translation: Now I can no longer
keep this hidden heart concealed,
not a moment more—
for if I grieve, I think, she
may perhaps come to know.
Meaning: Now I can no longer keep my secret heart concealed, for I think that if I show my grief, she may at last come to understand.
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1254

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One hundred and ten love poems"
Now I can no longer hide my secret heart, the poet says, thinking that if I show my grief she may come to understand.
The heart that had tried to keep its love hidden changes and now lets its grief show to make the beloved know. A turn from hidden love to love that makes itself known is marked here.

First line, “ima wa tada”: now, simply.
Second line, “shinobu kokoro zo”: zo is emphatic, answered by the attributive nu in the third line.
Third line, “tsutsumarenu”: re is potential and nu negative, "cannot be hidden"; the poem breaks here.
Fourth line, “nagekaba hito ya”: if I grieve, would she; ya questions.
Fifth line, “omoishiru tote”: thinking she might understand, the inversion giving the reason.
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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