Waga koi wa karasuba ni kaku koto no ha no utsusanu hodo wa shiru hito mo nashi - Kinyo Wakashu(English Translation & Meaning)

我が恋は烏羽に書く言の葉の
写さぬほどは知る人もなし

Roma-ji: Waga koi wa karasuba ni kaku koto no ha no utsusanu hodo wa shiru hito mo nashi
English Translation: This love of mine is
like words written on the wings
of a black crow:
until they are copied out
there is no one who can know
Meaning: My love is like words written on a crow's black feathers: until they are copied out, there is no one who knows of them.
Commentary: Book Seven Love Poems I 412

The poet's love is like words written in ink on a crow's black feathers: unless copied out elsewhere, no one can read them, and no one knows of it. Writing on black feathers that cannot be seen stands for a hidden love that no one knows.
The Nihon shoki tells how a letter of state sent from Koguryŏ written on crow feathers was steamed over rice and pressed onto silk by Wang Chin'i, who then read it, and this poem draws on that story.
Some manuscripts give the headnote 'Composed on the sentiment of love in a hundred-poem sequence.'
The author, Akisue, is Fujiwara no Akisue. A son of Fujiwara no Takatsune, he rose to Master of the Office of Palace Repairs. Founder of the Rokujō Fujiwara house, he served Retired Emperor Shirakawa as a close retainer and was active as a poet.

First line, 'waga koi wa', means my love.
Second line, 'karasuba ni kaku', means written on crow feathers, characters on black feathers that cannot be seen.
Third line, 'koto no ha no', means of the words. 'Koto no ha' in the closing poem, 420, is the same word.
Fourth line, 'utsusanu hodo wa', means until they are copied out, drawing on the story of the writing on crow feathers being transferred and read.
Final line, 'shiru hito mo nashi', means there is no one who knows. Like 'hito shiru rame ya' in poems 368 and 401 in this book, it sings of a love that no one knows.
Author: Fujiwara no Akisue
Source: Kinyo Wakashu
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