Kurenai ni someteshi koromo ame furite nioi wa su tomo utsurowame ya mo

紅に染めてし衣雨降りて
にほひはすともうつろはめやも

Roma-ji: Kurenai ni someteshi koromo ame furite nioi wa su tomo utsurowame ya mo
English Translation: The robe I dyed
deep in crimson's glowing red—
though rain should fall
and make its color shine,
how could it ever fade?
Meaning: The robe I dyed deep crimson may glow brighter when the rain falls on it, but could its color ever fade? Never.
Commentary: Book Sixteen Poems with Tales of Origin and Miscellaneous Poems 3877

Headnote: "A poem by a fisherman of Bungo; one poem."
The poem says that a robe dyed deep crimson may glow brighter in the rain but will never fade. Likening the crimson robe to unchanging love, it vows that come what may, the heart will not change.
Handed down as a fisherman's song from Bungo, it pairs with the preceding poem, 3876, a fisherman's song from Buzen.
The poet is a fisherman of Bungo; his name is not recorded.

First line, "kurenai ni," means "in crimson," the red of safflower dye.
Second line, "someteshi koromo," means "the robe I dyed." The perfective tsu and past ki show it was dyed through and through.
Third line, "ame furite," means "when rain falls." Following the wet sleeves of the preceding poem, 3876, here too cloth is wetted.
Fourth line, "nioi wa su tomo," means "though it may glow brightly."
Final line, "utsurowame ya mo," means "could it ever fade? Never." Ya mo marks a rhetorical question, vowing that love will not change.
Source: Manyoshu
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