Sumizome no iro wa izure mo kawaranu o nurenu ya kimi ga koromo naruran - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

墨染の色はいづれも変はらぬを
濡れぬや君が衣なるらん

Roma-ji: Sumizome no iro wa izure mo kawaranu o nurenu ya kimi ga koromo naruran
English Translation: Ink-black robes like these
are the same in color,
whichever they may be,
but the one that is not wet
must surely be your robe
Meaning: Ink-black robes are the same color whichever one it is, but the one not wet with tears must be yours.
Commentary: Book Nine Poems of Lament 581

Headnote: "Composed when I was in mourning, and a holy man who had visited forgot his black surplice and sent for it, as I sent it back"
Composed while the poet was in mourning, when a holy man who had visited left behind his black surplice and sent a messenger for it, as the poet sent it back. Ink-black robes are the same color either way, he says, but the one not wet with tears must be yours. The holy man's robe and his own mourning dress share the same black, but his own is soaked with tears, and through this wit he conveys the grief of mourning.
The author, "Tendai Abbot Shōhan," was a Tendai monk of the mid Heian period who rose to Tendai Abbot.

First line, "sumizome no": a black as if dyed with ink, referring to both the holy man's robe and the poet's mourning dress. Poems 571 and 572 of this book also sing of ink-black robes.
Second line, "iro wa izure mo": "in color, whichever one."
Third line, "kawaranu o": "o" is concessive, "though they do not differ."
Fourth line, "nurenu ya": "nu" is the attributive of the negative "zu," and the interrogative "ya" closes with the attributive "ran" in the last line, "the one that is not wet."
Fifth line, "kimi ga koromo naruran": the present conjectural "ran," "must be your robe," implying that his own mourning dress is wet with tears.
Author: Shōhan
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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