Michinoku no shinobu mojizuri shinobitsutsu iro ni wa ideji midare mo zo suru - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

陸奥のしのぶもぢずり忍びつつ
色には出でじ乱れもぞする

Roma-ji: Michinoku no shinobu mojizuri shinobitsutsu iro ni wa ideji midare mo zo suru
English Translation: Like the printed cloth
of Shinobu in Michinoku,
I shall hide my love
and never let its color show,
lest it fall into disarray
Meaning: Like the printed cloth of Shinobu in Michinoku, I shall keep enduring in secret and never let my love show its color, for I fear my heart might fall into disarray.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 664

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
Like the shinobu mojizuri of Michinoku, he says, I shall go on enduring in secret and never let it show, lest I fall into disarray. The first two lines are a preface leading to the like-sounding "shinobi," and while calling up the cloth known for its tangled pattern, he turns its "color" and "disarray" the other way, resolving to keep his love hidden because showing it would throw his heart into turmoil.
The author, "the monk Jakuzen," was the son of Fujiwara no Tametada, Governor of Tango. His lay name was Yorinari, and he lived in retreat at Ōhara with his elder brothers Jakunen and Jakuchō, the three being called the Three Jaku of Ōhara. He is also known for his friendship with Saigyō.
Like the preceding poem, 663, it sings of "shinobu mojizuri," so that two poems drawing on the Kokinshū poem by the Kawara Minister of the Left stand together. Its fourth line, "iro ni wa ideji," shares its wording with "iro ni ideji" in 646 and 683 of this book.

First line, "Michinoku no": "of Michinoku."
Second line, "shinobu mojizuri": cloth from Shinobu in Michinoku printed with a tangled pattern. The first two lines form a preface leading to the like-sounding "shinobi" in the third line.
Third line, "shinobitsutsu": "tsutsu" expresses continuation, "going on enduring my love in secret."
Fourth line, "iro ni wa ideji": "ji" is the negative volitional, "I shall not let it show." The poem pauses here. It shares its wording with the fourth line of 646 and "iro ni ideji to" in the second line of 683.
Fifth line, "midare mo zo suru": "mo zo" expresses a fear that something may happen, closing with the attributive "suru," "lest it fall into disarray." It is a related word to "shinobu mojizuri."
Author: Jakuzen
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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