Ima tsukuru madara no koromo omokage ni ware ni omōyu imada kinedomo

今作る斑の衣面影に
我れに思ほゆいまだ着ねども

Roma-ji: Ima tsukuru madara no koromo omokage ni ware ni omōyu imada kinedomo
English Translation: The robe I now make,
the robe in dappled patterns,
as a phantom form
rises ever before me,
though I have not worn it yet
Meaning: The dappled robe I am making now rises before my eyes as a vision—though I have not yet worn it.
Commentary: Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1296

Headnote: "On Robes"
The dappled robe the poet is making now appears before him as a vision, though he has not yet worn it. The dappled robe is taken to stand for a beloved woman with whom he has not yet been joined, and "wearing" it for the consummation of their love. It conveys his longing for someone not yet his own.
It is the first poem of the Allegorical Poems section and the first under the heading "On Robes." The left note says, "The fifteen poems above come from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection." Within that collection it is written in the so-called non-abbreviated style, which writes out particles and the like. The "dappled robe" also appears in poems 1255 and 1260 in this book.

The first line, "The robe I now make," means the robe being made at this moment.
The second line, "the robe in dappled patterns," stands for the beloved woman; the same phrase appears in poems 1255 and 1260 in this book.
The third line, "as a phantom form," means as an image before the eyes.
The fourth line, "rises ever before me," means it comes to mind, and the poem pauses here.
The final line, "though I have not worn it yet," is inverted and shows that the two are not yet joined.
Source: Manyoshu
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