Iro mo naki kokoro o hito ni someshi yori utsurowamu to wa waga omowanaku ni - Shui Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

色もなき心を人に染めしより
移ろはむとは我が思はなくに

Roma-ji: Iro mo naki kokoro o hito ni someshi yori utsurowamu to wa waga omowanaku ni
English Translation: Ever since I dyed
my colorless heart in you,
in your hue alone,
that it should fade and change, I
have never even thought so.
Meaning: Ever since I dyed my colorless heart in your hue, I have never once thought it might fade and change.
Commentary: Book Thirteen Love Poems III 842

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sent to a woman"
The poem says that since one dyed one's colorless heart in the beloved's hue, one has never thought of changing. The headnote shows it was sent to a woman. Likening love to dyeing, it vows unchanging devotion, saying a heart once dyed in her color will never fade.
The author, "Tsurayuki," is Ki no Tsurayuki, the central compiler of the Kokinshū, author of its Kana Preface, and writer of the Tosa Diary. He is one of the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "iro mo naki," means "without any color," a heart not yet dyed by anyone.
Second line, "kokoro o hito ni," means "my heart in you."
Third line, "someshi yori," means "ever since I dyed it," with "shi" the attributive form of the past "ki."
Fourth line, "utsurowamu to wa," means "that it should fade and change," with "utsurou" an associated word of "some," dyeing. It shares the word with the first line of 840, "utsurou wa." Where 840 and 841 lament the other's change of heart, this poem vows one's own constancy, forming a pair on the theme of a changing heart.
Final line, "waga omowanaku ni," means "I never thought," with "nakuni" adding exclamation to a negative and trailing off.
Author: Ki no Tsurayuki
Source: Shui Wakashu
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