Kimi o inoru kokoro no iro o hito towaba Tadasu no miya no ake no tamagaki - Shin Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

君を祈る心の色を人問はば
ただすの宮の朱の玉垣

Roma-ji: Kimi o inoru kokoro no iro o hito towaba Tadasu no miya no ake no tamagaki
English Translation: If someone should ask
the color of my heart that prays
for my sovereign lord—
at Tadasu Shrine, the sacred
fence of vermilion red.
Meaning: If anyone should ask the color of my heart as I pray for my sovereign, it is the vermilion of the sacred fence at Tadasu Shrine.
Commentary: Book Nineteen Poems on the Gods 1891

Headnote: "Composed on the gods for a ten-poem contest."
This is the fourth poem in the sequence on the Kamo Shrines. If anyone asks the color of the heart that prays for the sovereign's reign, the poet answers, as it were, that it is the color of the vermilion fence at Tadasu Shrine. According to the headnote, it was composed on the topic of the gods for a ten-poem contest. The vivid red of the vermilion fence carries a heart without falsehood.
The author, "Saki no Daisōjō Jien," the former Archbishop, was a son of Fujiwara no Tadamichi and a younger brother of Kujō Kanezane. He served four times as head of the Tendai school and wrote the history Gukanshō.
Tadasu Shrine is Kamo Mioya Shrine, the Lower Kamo Shrine; its forest is called the Forest of Tadasu.

The first line, "kimi o inoru," means "praying for my lord." It runs to six syllables, one beyond the norm. "Kimi" refers to the emperor.
The second line, "kokoro no iro o," speaks of the state of the heart as a color.
The third line, "hito towaba," means "if someone should ask," a supposition formed by "ba" after the irrealis form.
In the fourth line, "Tadasu no miya no," "tadasu" is a pivot word joining the name of Tadasu Shrine and "tadasu," "to question closely." Taking up "towaba," "if asked," in the third line, it shows the color of a heart put to the question.
The last line, "ake no tamagaki," is the beautiful vermilion-lacquered fence, ending on a noun. Vermilion expresses sincerity, a "red heart." Against the white of "niwa shirotae ni" in the preceding poem, this poem sets vermilion, and the colors of the shrine turn from white to red.
Author: Jien
Source: Shin Kokin Wakashu
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