Matori sumu unade no mori no suga no ne o kinu ni kakitsuke kisemu ko mogamo

真鳥棲む雲梯の杜の菅の根を
衣にかき付け着せむ子もがも

Roma-ji: Matori sumu unade no mori no suga no ne o kinu ni kakitsuke kisemu ko mogamo
English Translation: Where the eagles dwell,
in the grove of Unade
the roots of the sedge—
rubbing them into a robe,
would there were a girl to dress me
Meaning: I wish there were a girl who would rub the sedge roots from the sacred grove of Unade, where eagles dwell, into a robe and dress me in it.
Commentary: Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1344

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Grasses"
The speaker wishes for a girl who would rub the roots of the sedge from the grove of Unade into a robe and dress him in it. The girl who dyes and dresses him in a robe stands for a woman who would become his wife, expressing his longing for such a person. Some see, in the sedge of a sacred grove, a love for someone hard to approach.
It is one of the poems on grasses. The grove of Unade was a sacred grove in Takechi District of Yamato. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "Where the eagles dwell," renders "matori," a large bird such as an eagle.
The second line names the sacred grove of Unade in Takechi District of Yamato.
The third line, "the roots of the sedge," names what is used for dyeing.
The fourth line, "rubbing them into a robe," describes rubbing dye into cloth.
In the final line, "mogamo" expresses a wish: "would there were a girl to dress me."
Source: Manyoshu
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