Kagiri areba shinobu no yama no fumoto ni mo ochiba ga ue no tsuyu zo irozuku - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

限りあればしのぶの山の麓にも
落葉が上の露ぞ色づく

Roma-ji: Kagiri areba shinobu no yama no fumoto ni mo ochiba ga ue no tsuyu zo irozuku
English Translation: Since all things have bounds,
even at the mountain's foot
of Shinobu's hill
the dew that lies upon the leaves
fallen there is turning red.
Meaning: Since even hiding has its limits, at the foot of Mount Shinobu, whose very name means to conceal, the dew upon the fallen leaves is taking on color.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 1095

Headnote: "At the Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds."
This is the third poem of the sequence on hidden love linked to poetic places bearing the name "Shinobu." The speaker says that concealment has its limits: as the dew on the fallen leaves takes on color even at the foot of Mount Shinobu, held-back tears come to show their color. According to the headnote, it was composed for the Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds.
The author, "Michiteru, Intendant of the Left Gate Guards," is Minamoto no Michiteru. The son of Palace Minister Minamoto no Michichika, he later rose to grand chancellor.
The Poetry Contest in Fifteen Hundred Rounds was a contest in which Retired Emperor Go-Toba paired the hundred-poem sequences he had thirty poets compose in Kennin 1 (1201).

The first line, "kagiri areba," means "since there are limits," that is, there is a limit even to concealment.
In the second line, "shinobu no yama no," "shinobu" holds both "shinobu," to conceal love, and the place-name Shinobu. It is the third of the poems on places named "Shinobu" that begin with poem 1093 in this book.
In the third line, "fumoto ni mo," "mo" adds "even at the foot of a mountain whose name means to conceal." Against the cloud on the peak in the preceding poem, this poem turns to the foot of the mountain, a contrast of high and low.
The fourth line, "ochiba ga ue no," means "resting on the fallen leaves." Poem 1087 in this book bade the shower not to reveal the leaves changing color beneath; here even the dew on the leaves that have fallen takes on color.
The last line, "tsuyu zo irozuku," closes with the attributive "irozuku" in answer to the particle "zo." The dew is a figure for tears, and dew turning red is laid over tears that have changed color from being held back. The color of the dew shows a hidden love that can no longer be concealed and comes to the surface.
Author: Minamoto no Michiteru
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
Prev Poem: Kiene tada shinobu no yama no mine no kumo kakaru kokoro no ato mo naki made
Next Poem: Uchihaete kurushiki mono wa hitome nomi shinobu no ura no ama no takunawa