Kiku no hana utsuru kokoro o oku shimo ni kaerinubeku mo omoyuru kana - Gosen Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

菊の花うつる心を置く霜に
かへりぬべくも思ほゆるかな

Roma-ji: Kiku no hana utsuru kokoro o oku shimo ni kaerinubeku mo omoyuru kana
English Translation: Chrysanthemum flower,
a heart that has changed its hue—
in the settling frost
it seems it might turn once more
to the color it once had
Meaning: Like a chrysanthemum whose color shifts with the settling frost, your changed heart seems as though it might turn back again to what it was.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems IV 852

Headnote: "Sent to a woman he had forgotten."
The poet says that a heart that has shifted like a chrysanthemum seems as though it might turn back again in the settling frost. Comparing her to a chrysanthemum whose color changes in the frost, he hopes that a heart once estranged might yet return.
According to the headnote, the poem was sent to a woman he had forgotten. The next poem, 853, is the reply, and the two form an exchange.
The poet is listed as anonymous, and the composer's name has not come down to us.

The first line, "Kiku no hana," the chrysanthemum, is sung as a flower whose color changes when touched by frost.
The second line, "utsuru kokoro o," means "a changing heart," layering a change of heart over the chrysanthemum's shifting color.
The third line, "oku shimo ni," means "with the settling frost."
The fourth line, "kaerinubeku mo," means "as though it might return," layering the chrysanthemum's color returning with a heart coming back. The next poem, 853, answers with the same word in "kaeru iro."
The last line, "omoyuru kana," means "it seems to me," with "kana" expressing emotion.
Author: Unknown Poet
Source: Gosen Wakashu
Prev Poem: Konu hito o matsu no e ni furu shirayuki no kie koso kaere kuyuru omoi ni
Next Poem: Ima wa tote utsurihatenishi kiku no hana kaeru iro o ba tare ka mirubeki