Kurenai ni namida no iro mo narinikeri kawaru wa hito no kokoro nomi ka wa - Shika Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

紅に涙の色もなりにけり
変はるは人の心のみかは

Roma-ji: Kurenai ni namida no iro mo narinikeri kawaru wa hito no kokoro nomi ka wa
English Translation: Into crimson now
even the color of my tears
has come to be changed —
is it only your heart, then,
that is given to change
Meaning: Even the color of my tears has turned to crimson; is it only your heart that changes? No, not only that.
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 220

Grieving that the beloved's heart has changed, the poet says that even the color of his tears has turned to crimson. Within the wit of overlaying a change of heart with a change in the tears' color lies a deep lament: it is not only human hearts that change.

The first line, "kurenai ni" (into crimson), is the same as the third line of the preceding poem, 219; closing the three poems of crimson tears, it says the tears themselves have turned crimson.
The second line, "namida no iro mo," uses "mo": not only the heart but even the color of tears.
The third line, "narinikeri," combines the perfective "nu" and exclamatory "keri," realizing it has fully changed, with a break after the third line.
The fourth line, "kawaru wa hito no," refers to the beloved who has changed. Following the white chrysanthemum poems, 216 and 217, the change of human hearts remains the theme.
The final line, "kokoro nomi ka wa," ends with the rhetorical "ka wa": is it only the heart that changes? Surely not.
Source: Shika Wakashu
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