Hito shirezu omoeba kurushi kurenai no suetsumuhana no iro ni idenamu - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

人知れず思へば苦し紅の
末摘花の色に出でなむ

Roma-ji: Hito shirezu omoeba kurushi kurenai no suetsumuhana no iro ni idenamu
English Translation: Loving unbeknown
to all the world is hard to bear
like the crimson dye
of the safflower in bloom
let my love now show its color
Meaning: It is painful to love without anyone knowing; like the crimson of the safflower, let my love now show its color openly.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 496

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Unable to bear the pain of loving in secret, the poet thinks to show it openly, like the color of the safflower. The poem captures the turn of a heart leaning away from hidden love toward revealing it. The vivid color of the safflower symbolizes the intensity of a love long held back.

First line, "Loving unbeknown": hito shirezu means without others knowing.
Second line, "to all the world is hard to bear": omoeba kurushi means "loving thus is painful," and the poem pauses here.
Third line, "like the crimson dye": kurenai is the vivid red taken from the safflower.
Fourth line, "of the safflower in bloom": suetsumuhana is another name for the safflower, so called because the flowers at the tips of the stems are picked. With the third line it forms a preface leading to "color" in the last line.
Fifth line, "let my love now show its color": iro ni idenamu means "let me reveal it," with na the perfective nu and mu expressing intention. Poem 503 of this book sings of a heart resolved not to show its color, forming a contrast, and the next poem, 497, carries on the word iro.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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