Ashigari no mama no kosuge no sugamakura aze ka makasamu koro se tamakura

あしがりの麻万の小菅の菅枕
あぜかまかさむ子ろせ手枕

Roma-ji: Ashigari no mama no kosuge no sugamakura aze ka makasamu koro se tamakura
English Translation: At Ashigari,
the little sedges of Mama
woven to pillows:
why lay your head on such as these?
Sweet girl, take my arm for pillow.
Meaning: Why rest your head on a pillow woven from the little sedges of Mama in Ashigari? Darling, use my arm as your pillow.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3369

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Sōmon (Love Exchanges)"
The singer invites his love to set aside the pillow woven from the sedges of Mama in Ashigari and sleep with her head on his arm. The contrast between the rustic pillow and the arm-pillow conveys the easy affection of a close couple.
It is one of the Sagami poems and opens like the preceding poem with "Ashigari no." Some see it as an invitation song sung at gatherings such as utagaki.
The poet is unknown. The Azuma uta are thought to have been sung among the people of the eastern provinces, and they are marked by plain, open-hearted expression mixed with local dialect.

First line, "ashigari no": The same opening as the preceding poem, naming Ashigara.
Second line, "mama no kosuge no": Mama is a place in Ashigara, and the line names the small sedges growing there.
Third line, "sugamakura": A pillow woven of sedge. From "kosuge" in the second line the word "suge" is repeated in "sugamakura."
Fourth line, "aze ka makasamu": "Aze ka" is an eastern word for "why," and "makasamu" means to use as a pillow.
Final line, "koro se tamakura": "Se" means "do," and "tamakura" is pillowing on an arm; contrasted with the sedge pillow, it invites her to lie together.
Source: Manyoshu
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