Iro naraba utsuru bakari mo sometemashi omou kokoro o e ya wa misekeru - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

色ならば移るばかりも染めてまし
思ふ心をえやは見せける

Roma-ji: Iro naraba utsuru bakari mo sometemashi omou kokoro o e ya wa misekeru
English Translation: If it were a color,
I would dye it so deep
it would pass to you—
but this heart that loves you,
how could I ever show it
Meaning: If my love were a color, I would dye it so deeply that it would pass onto you—but how could I ever show you the heart that loves you?
Commentary: Book Ten Love Poems II 631

Headnote: "A woman with whom he had been exchanging words wrote that he must be speaking only half in earnest."
The poet says that if his love were a color he would dye it deep enough to pass onto her, but how could he show the heart itself? To a woman who suspects his words are not sincere, he voices the frustration that the heart cannot be seen.
According to the headnote, a woman with whom he had been exchanging words wrote that he must be speaking carelessly.
The poet, called "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki. He was one of the compilers of the Kokin Wakashū and served as Governor of Tosa, among other posts. Known also as the author of the Tosa Diary, he is one of the Thirty-Six Poetic Immortals.

The first line, "Iro naraba," means "if my love were a color."
The second line, "utsuru bakari mo," means "so that it would pass onto you."
The third line, "sometemashi," means "I would dye it," with "mashi" an auxiliary imagining what is contrary to fact. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "omou kokoro o," means "the heart that loves you."
The last line, "e ya wa misekeru," means "how could I show it?" with "ya wa" a rhetorical particle closing with the attributive "keru," a kakarimusubi pattern.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Gosen Wakashu
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