Murasaki no iro ni kokoro wa aranedomo fukaku zo hito o omoisometsuru - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

紫の色に心はあらねども
深くぞ人を思ひそめつる

Roma-ji: Murasaki no iro ni kokoro wa aranedomo fukaku zo hito o omoisometsuru
English Translation: Though my heart is not
the color of murasaki,
still, how deeply
have I come to love you, dyed
through and through with this new love
Meaning: My heart is not the color of murasaki, and yet how deeply I have begun to love you, as though my heart were steeped in that dye.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 995

Headnote: "Sent to the Chūjō Kōi."
This is the second of two poems sent to women that draw on the dye of murasaki. The heart is not purple, yet it has begun to love deeply, and the depth of feeling is sung in the words of dyeing. According to the headnote, it was sent to the Chūjō Kōi.
The author, "Poem of the Engi Sovereign," is Emperor Daigo. The eldest son of Emperor Uda, he reigned long under the era name Engi, and later ages praised his rule as the Engi reign. He commanded Ki no Tsurayuki and others to compile the Kokin Wakashū.
The Chūjō Kōi is the name of a consort who served Emperor Daigo. A kōi ranked below a nyōgo among the imperial consorts, and Chūjō is a name taken from the office of a close relative.

The first line, "murasaki no," names the purple dyed from the root of gromwell. Purple, a color that sinks deep into cloth, was a figure for the depth of love.
The second line, "iro ni kokoro wa," means "my heart, in the color," leading on to the point that the heart itself is no color.
The third line, "aranedomo," is concessive: though my heart is not purple, and so it turns to the lower verse.
In the fourth line, the emphatic "zo" is resolved by "tsuru" in the last line. "Fukaku," a word for depth of color, is turned to the depth of feeling.
In the last line, "some" pivots between "hajime," to begin loving, and "some," to dye. Purple, color, deep, and dye run together as associated words. The preceding poem by Narihira also speaks of a robe printed with young murasaki, and the two poems are bound by the color of that dye.
Author: Emperor Daigo
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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