Kurenai ni fukaku shimi ni shi kokoro kamo nara no miyako ni toshi no henubeki

紅に深く染みにし心かも
奈良の都に年の経ぬべき

Roma-ji: Kurenai ni fukaku shimi ni shi kokoro kamo nara no miyako ni toshi no henubeki
English Translation: As in crimson dye
deeply stained, is it my heart
that has so been dyed?—
here in the capital of Nara
my years will pass, it seems
Meaning: Is it because my heart has been dyed as deep as crimson? It seems I will let the years go by here in the capital of Nara.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 1044

Headnote: "Three poems composed in grief and regret over the ruins of the Nara capital [author uncertain]"
The poem says: perhaps because my heart has become as deeply attached to the Nara capital as crimson dye soaks into cloth, it seems I will go on spending my years in this capital. It expresses, through the image of crimson dye, a heart unable to leave Nara even after the capital has been moved.
These three poems form a sequence lamenting the Nara capital as it fell into ruin. At the end of Tenpyō 12 (740), after a progress to Ise and other provinces, Emperor Shōmu did not return to the Heijō capital but moved the capital to Kuni in Yamashiro Province. The figure of the Nara capital after its people had left lies behind these three poems.
All three poems carry the note "author uncertain" in their headnote, and the poet is unknown.

All three poems place "the capital of Nara" in their fourth line: this poem has "in the capital of Nara," the next poem, 1045, "of the capital of Nara," and 1046 "the capital of Nara" as an object, so that by varying only the particle they layer their feelings for the ruined capital around the same phrase.
The first line, "As in crimson dye," refers to the vivid red dyed with safflower, a color that sinks deep, used here as a figure leading into the depth of the heart.
The second line, "deeply stained," means "has soaked in deeply." "-ni shi" combines the continuative form of the perfective auxiliary "nu" with the attributive form of the past auxiliary "ki," expressing how the heart has become thoroughly dyed by the capital over long years.
The third line, "is it my heart / that has so been dyed?" means "is it because of my heart?" The particle "kamo" expresses a question and is answered by "-beki" in the final line. The sense breaks here, making this a poem with a pause after the third line.
The fourth line, "here in the capital of Nara," means in the Nara capital from which the people have gone, a phrase shared by all three poems.
The final line, "my years will pass, it seems," means "the years will likely pass." "-beki" is the attributive form of the conjectural auxiliary "beshi," forming a kakari-musubi construction with the particle "kamo" in the third line.
Source: Manyoshu
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