Iro ni idete itsu yori mono wa omou zo to tou hito araho ika ga kotaen

色に出でていつより物は思ふぞと
問ふ人あらほいかが答へん

Roma-ji: Iro ni idete itsu yori mono wa omou zo to tou hito araho ika ga kotaen
English Translation: It shows in my face—
"Since when have you been lost
in brooding thought?"
should there be someone to ask,
how am I to answer them?
Meaning: It shows in my face, and if anyone should ask, "Since when have you been so lost in thought?" how would I ever answer?
Commentary: Miscellaneous Poems 1248

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "One hundred and ten love poems"
If, seeing it in my face, someone should ask since when I have been lost in thought, how could I answer? the poet wonders.
It is the fear of one whose hidden love has come to the surface and who may be questioned. Asked "since when," he cannot even say when his love began.

First line, “iro ni idete”: showing in one's face; the line has an extra syllable.
Second line, “itsu yori mono wa”: since when, brooding.
Third line, “omou zo to”: "have you been?"
Fourth line, “tou hito araho”: both the text and the reading line have araho, taken in the sense of araba, "if there should be someone to ask."
Fifth line, “ika ga kotaen”: how should I answer?
Author: Saigyō
Source: Sankashu
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