Koromode ni otsuru namida no iro naku wa tsuyu tomo hito ni iwamashi mono o - Senzai Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

衣手に落つる涙の色なくは
露とも人に言はましものを

Roma-ji: Koromode ni otsuru namida no iro naku wa tsuyu tomo hito ni iwamashi mono o
English Translation: If those tears that fall
upon the sleeves of my robe
had no hue at all,
I could tell them it was dew
that had settled there, and yet
Meaning: If only the tears that fall upon my sleeve had no color, I could tell people they were only dew.
Commentary: Book Twelve Love Poems II 740

Headnote: "Composed on the heart of hidden love"
Composed on the heart of "hidden love." If the tears falling on my sleeve had no color, she says, I could tell people they were dew. Tears dyed crimson by the sorrow of love cannot be passed off as dew, and so her love will be known, expressing the pain of a love that must be hidden.
The author, "Mikawa, Palace Attendant of Retired Emperor Nijō," was a palace attendant who served Emperor Nijō. Little is known of her career.
"The color of tears" is also sung of in 706 and 721 of this book. Where 721 wished to show the beloved the color of its tears, this poem laments that color because it would betray her love, so that the same colored tears give rise to the wish to show and the wish to hide. The next poem, 741, is composed on the same topic of "hidden love."

First line, "koromode ni": "koromode" means the sleeve.
Second line, "otsuru namida no": "of the tears that fall on my sleeve."
Third line, "iro naku wa": "wa" expresses supposition, "if they had no color," answering "mashi" in the last line. "The color of tears" is also sung of in 706 and 721.
Fourth line, "tsuyu tomo hito ni": "to others, as if it were dew," of passing off tears as dew.
Fifth line, "iwamashi mono o": "mashi" is the counterfactual auxiliary and "mono o" adversative lament, "I could have said so." It takes the same form as "tatemashi mono o" in the last line of 726 of this book.
Author: Mikawa
Source: Senzai Wakashu
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