Kokoro naki mi wa kusaba ni mo aranaku ni aki kuru kaze ni utagawaruran - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

心なき身は草葉にもあらなくに
秋来る風に疑はるらん

Roma-ji: Kokoro naki mi wa kusaba ni mo aranaku ni aki kuru kaze ni utagawaruran
English Translation: I am not a blade
of grass, a thing without a heart,
and yet why should I
be doubted by the wind
that comes when autumn comes
Meaning: I am no heartless blade of grass—so why should I be suspected, as though I changed color in the wind that autumn brings?
Commentary: Book Six Autumn Poems II 286

Headnote: "Reply."
She replies that she is no heartless blade of grass, so why should she be suspected of changing, like grass that changes color in the autumn wind? Taking up his "color of the lower leaves," she reproaches him, hinting that it is he who has changed.
It forms an exchange with the preceding poem, 285. Ariwara no Narihira's poem, 224 of Book Five, likewise sets the heart against grass with "kusaba naraneba" to deny a change of heart.
The poet, Ise, was a daughter of Fujiwara no Tsugukage, governor of Ise, and served Fujiwara no Onshi, a consort of Emperor Uda. Favored by Emperor Uda, she bore him a son, and later had a daughter, Nakatsukasa, by Prince Atsuyoshi. She is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, and her "Naniwagata mijikaki ashi no fushi no ma mo" is included in the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu.

The first line, "Kokoro naki," means "heartless, without feeling."
The second line, "mi wa kusaba ni mo," means "I am not grass," taking up the bush clover leaves of the preceding poem.
In the third line, "naku ni" means "though it is not." 314 of this book sets the same third line, "aranaku ni."
The fourth line, "aki kuru kaze ni," means "by the wind that comes with autumn," with "aki" echoing "aki," weariness. It points to the autumn wind that colors the lower leaves of the bush clover in the preceding poem.
In the last line, "ru" is the passive auxiliary and "ran" an auxiliary conjecturing a cause: "why should I be doubted?" 223 of Book Five also closes with "utagawarekeri," doubting a change of heart in the autumn wind.
Author: Ise
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Shiratsuyu no ue wa tsurenaku okiitsutsu hagi no shitaba no iro o koso mire
Next Poem: Hito wa isa koto zo to mo naki nagame ni zo ware wa tsuyukeki aki mo shiraruru