忍ぶれど涙ぞしるき紅に
もの思ふ袖は染むべかりけり
もの思ふ袖は染むべかりけり
- Roma-ji
-
Shinoburedo namida zo shiruki kurenai ni mono omou sode wa somu bekarikeri
- English Translation
-
Though I hide my love,
my tears make it plain to see;
in crimson dye then
these sleeves of my sorrow
should have been colored long ago
- Meaning
- However I hide my love, my tears give it away; I should have dyed these sorrowing sleeves crimson from the start.
- Commentary
-
Book Seven Love Poems I 219
However carefully he hides his love, his tears make it plain to others, so the poet thinks his sleeves should have been dyed crimson from the beginning. Like the preceding poem, it rests on the conceit of hiding tears with crimson.
The first line, "shinoburedo" (though I hide it), uses the concessive "do."
The second line, "namida zo shiruki," forms a kakari-musubi of "zo" with the attributive "shiruki," declaring that the tears make it plain, with a break after the second line.
The third line, "kurenai ni" (in crimson), takes up "kurenai no kozome no koromo" from the preceding poem, 218, and instead of layering a robe, imagines dyeing the sleeves themselves.
The fourth line, "mono omou sode wa," refers to sleeves wet with the tears of love's sorrow.
The final line, "somu bekarikeri," combines the obligatory "beshi" and exclamatory "keri": they should have been dyed, as he now realizes.
- Author
- Minamoto no Michinari
- Source
- Shika Wakashu
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Kurenai no kozome no koromo ue ni kimu koi no namida no iro kakuru ya to
- Next Poem
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Kurenai ni namida no iro mo narinikeri kawaru wa hito no kokoro nomi ka wa