Takumano ni ouru murasaki kinu ni shime imada kizu shite iro ni idenikeri

託馬野に生ふる紫草衣に染め
いまだ着ずして色に出でにけり

Roma-ji: Takumano ni ouru murasaki kinu ni shime imada kizu shite iro ni idenikeri
English Translation: On Takuma's plain
the gromwell grows, and with it
I have dyed my robe—
though I have not worn it yet,
its color has shown itself.
Meaning: I dyed my robe with the gromwell growing on the plain of Takuma, and though I have not yet worn it, the color has already shown.
Commentary: Book Three Allegorical Poems 395

Headnote: "Three poems sent by Lady Kasa to Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi"
This poem belongs to the section of Allegorical Poems in Book Three. It is the first of three poems Lady Kasa sent to Ōtomo no Yakamochi. The robe dyed with gromwell shows its color before it is even worn—an allegory of her love becoming known to others before the two have exchanged vows. Her uncontainable love is entrusted to the vivid purple. The plain of Takuma has been placed either at Chikuma in Ōmi or in Higo.
Lady Kasa's three poems sent to Ōtomo no Yakamochi form a sequence expressing her love through plants—the gromwell, the grassy plain, and the sedge.
The poet, Lady Kasa, was a woman poet of the Nara period known for sending love poems to Ōtomo no Yakamochi, for whom she felt deep affection.

First line "On Takuma's plain" names a plain of unknown location.
Second line "the gromwell grows": murasaki is a plant whose root yields purple dye.
Third line "I have dyed my robe" means coloring cloth with it.
Fourth line "though I have not worn it yet" hints that they have not yet become lovers.
Fifth line "its color has shown itself": iro ni izu means both for a color to show and for feelings to become visible. Nikeri laments the discovery that her love is known.
Author: Lady Kasa
Source: Manyoshu
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