Ikade ka wa kaku omou chō koto o dani hitozute narade kimi ni shirasemu - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

いかでかはかく思ふてふことをだに
人づてならで君に知らせむ

Roma-ji: Ikade ka wa kaku omou chō koto o dani hitozute narade kimi ni shirasemu
English Translation: How can I contrive,
if only that I love you so,
just that much to tell,
not by word passed through others,
but to you myself, to tell?
Meaning: How can I let you know, if only that I love you so, not through another's words but myself?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 635

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sent to a woman for the first time, while he was serving as Chamberlain"
The poem says that the poet wishes to tell her himself, not through another, if only that he loves her so, yet how can he do it. The headnote is the same as that of the preceding poem, 634, a poem first sent to a woman while he was serving as Chamberlain. It expresses the frustration of wanting to convey his feeling in his own words without a go-between, yet having no means to do so. Beginning with the same first line as the preceding poem, "ikade ka wa," it takes up "shirasesomu beki" there and ends with "kimi ni shirasemu."
The author, written as "Gon Chūnagon Atsutada," is Fujiwara no Atsutada. A son of the Minister of the Left Fujiwara no Tokihira, he rose to Provisional Middle Counselor of the Junior Third Rank. He excelled at music, is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets, and is known for his poem "aimite no" in the Hyakunin Isshu.

First line, "ikade ka wa," means "how can I," with the binding particle "ka wa" rhetorical and resolved by the attributive "mu" in the final line. It is the same line as the first line of the preceding poem, 634.
Second line, "kaku omou chō," means "that I love you so," with "chō" a contraction of "to iu."
Third line, "koto o dani," means "if only this much," with "dani" meaning "at least."
Fourth line, "hitozute narade," means "not through another," with "de" a negative conjunctive particle.
Final line, "kimi ni shirasemu," means "can I let you know," taking up the second line of the preceding poem, "shirasesomu beki."
Author: Fujiwara no Atsutada
Source: Shui Wakashu
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