Ikade ka wa shirasesomu beki hito shirezu omou kokoro no iro ni idezu wa - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかでかは知らせそむべき人知れず
思ふ心の色に出でずは

Roma-ji: Ikade ka wa shirasesomu beki hito shirezu omou kokoro no iro ni idezu wa
English Translation: How could I begin
to let you know of my love,
if, unknown to all,
the heart that loves you so
did not show itself in my face?
Meaning: How could I ever begin to let you know, if the heart that loves you in secret did not show itself in my face?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 634

Headnote: "Sent to a woman for the first time, while he was serving as Chamberlain"
The poem asks how the poet could ever begin to let her know, if the heart that loves her in secret did not show in his face. The headnote shows it was the first poem he sent to a woman while serving as Chamberlain. It expresses the frustration of a love that can be conveyed only by showing in one's color, and unlike the earlier poems that feared their love would show, it wishes that it would. The final line is the same as that of 632, "iro ni idezu wa."
The author, written as "Kunimasa," is a figure of whom little is known; the headnote tells that he served as Chamberlain.

First line, "ikade ka wa," means "how could I," with the binding particle "ka wa" rhetorical and resolved by "beki" in the second line. It is the same line as the first line of the next poem, 635, "ikade ka wa."
Second line, "shirasesomu beki," means "begin to let you know," and the poem breaks after this second line.
Third line, "hito shirezu," means "unknown to others," speaking, like the fourth line of 621, "hito shirezu koso," of a heart that hides its love.
Fourth line, "omou kokoro no," means "the heart that loves," the same line as the second line of the preceding poem, 633, "omou kokoro no."
Final line, "iro ni idezu wa," means "if it did not show in my face," returning in inverted order to the second line. It is the same line as the final line of 632.
Author: Kunimasa
Source: Shui Wakashu
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