Iro mienu kokoro no hodo o shirasuru wa tamoto o somuru namida narikeri - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

色見えぬ心のほどを知らするは
袂を染むる涙なりけり

Roma-ji: Iro mienu kokoro no hodo o shirasuru wa tamoto o somuru namida narikeri
English Translation: What makes known the depth
of a heart whose color
cannot be seen at all,
I find, is the flood of tears
that dyes my sleeves deep red
Meaning: What reveals the depth of a heart whose color cannot be seen is, I realize, the tears that dye my sleeves crimson.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems I 688

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Topic unknown"
What makes known the depth of a heart whose color cannot be seen, he says, is the tears that dye my sleeves. The depth of an invisible love is known only through tears that stain the sleeves crimson, and so tears are sung as the appearance of the heart's color.
The author, "the monk Yūsei," was the son of Minamoto no Toshiyori. A younger brother of Shun'e, he was a monk known as a poet.
Like the preceding poem, 687, it sings of the color of tears. Where 643 of this book wished the heart had a color, this poem says that tears reveal the colorless heart. Its last line, "namida narikeri," is the same as the last lines of 662 and 697.

First line, "iro mienu": "whose color cannot be seen." It contrasts with "iro naraba" in the third line of 643.
Second line, "kokoro no hodo o": "hodo" means degree or depth, "the depth of my love."
Third line, "shirasuru wa": "what makes it known."
Fourth line, "tamoto o somuru": "somuru" is the attributive of "somu," "dyeing the sleeves crimson." It answers "iro to narikere" in the last line of the preceding poem.
Fifth line, "namida narikeri": "keri" expresses realization, "it was my tears." It is the same as the last lines of 662 and 697.
Author: Yūsei
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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