Kurenai no hatsuhanazome no iro fukaku omoishi kokoro ware wasureme ya - Kokin Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

紅の初花染めの色深く
思ひし心我忘れめや

Roma-ji: Kurenai no hatsuhanazome no iro fukaku omoishi kokoro ware wasureme ya
English Translation: Like the crimson dye
from the first blooms of safflower,
deep in its color,
the heart with which I loved you—
how could I ever forget?
Meaning: Like cloth dyed deep crimson with the first safflower blooms of the year, the heart with which I loved you runs deep—how could I ever forget it?
Commentary: Book Fourteen Love Poems IV 723

Headnote: "Topic unknown"
Like the deep crimson dyed from the year's first safflower blooms, the heart that loved so deeply will never be forgotten—so the speaker vows. Likening the depth of the heart to vivid crimson, the poem impresses the strength of love's first feelings.
Following the depth of the pool in the preceding poem, it sings of the depth of love through depth of color. The idea of "dyeing" and "color" also resonates with "iro mo naki kokoro o hito ni someshi yori" in 729 of this book, and in the poems that follow, the "color" of the heart and its fading become the theme.

The first line, "kurenai no," refers to the vivid red obtained from safflower.
The second line, "hatsuhanazome no," means dyeing with the first safflower blooms of the year, said to give an especially deep and beautiful color.
The third line, "iro fukaku," overlays a deep dye with a deep love; up to here the lines form a comparison leading to the fourth line.
The fourth line, "omoishi kokoro," means "the heart that loved," using "shi," the attributive form of the past "ki."
The final line, "ware wasureme ya," means "would I forget? Never," closing with the rhetorical "ya."
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Kokin Wakashu
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