Hana no iro wa mukashi nagara ni mishi hito no kokoro nomi koso utsuroi ni kere - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

花の色は昔ながらに見し人の
心のみこそうつろひにけれ

Roma-ji: Hana no iro wa mukashi nagara ni mishi hito no kokoro nomi koso utsuroi ni kere
English Translation: The flowers' color
is the same as long ago,
but the one I loved—
her heart alone, it seems, has
faded and is changed
Meaning: The color of the blossoms is just as it was long ago; it is only the heart of the one I loved that has faded and changed.
Commentary: Book Three Spring Poems III 102

Headnote: "Prince Motoyoshi had been visiting the daughter of Lord Kanemochi, but the Cloistered Emperor summoned her to serve at his palace, and he could no longer meet her; in the spring of the following year, he attached this to a cherry branch and had it placed in her chamber."
The color of the flowers is as it was, the poet laments, yet the heart of the woman he once met has changed. Setting the unchanging color of the blossoms against his lover's altered heart, he voices his bitterness at being unable to meet her.
According to the headnote, Prince Motoyoshi had been visiting the daughter of Fujiwara no Kanemochi, but when Cloistered Emperor Uda summoned her to serve at his palace, he could no longer see her; the next spring he attached this poem to a cherry branch and had it placed in her room.
The poet, called "Motoyoshi no Miko," is Prince Motoyoshi. The first son of Emperor Yōzei, he rose to the Third Rank and Minister of War. He left many love poems and was known as a great lover.

The first line, "Hana no iro wa," presents the color of the cherry blossoms he sent. Just as the opening poem, 81, sets the unchanging warbler's voice against a changed self, this poem sets the unchanging color of the flowers against a changed heart.
The second line, "mukashi nagara ni," means "just as long ago."
In the third line, "mishi" means "whom I met, with whom I shared a bond," and "shi" is the attributive of the past auxiliary "ki."
In the fourth line, "koso" forms a kakarimusubi pattern with the perfective "kere" in the last line, stressing "her heart alone."
In the last line, "utsurou," used for flowers losing their color, is turned to a person's change of heart. It corresponds to "utsuroi ni keri" in 82 of this book, which sings of the fading color of flowers.
Author: Prince Motoyoshi
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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