Ikahoro no soi no harihara waga kinu ni tsukiyorashi mo yo hitae to omoeba

伊香保ろの沿ひの榛原我が衣に
着きよらしもよひたへと思へば

Roma-ji: Ikahoro no soi no harihara waga kinu ni tsukiyorashi mo yo hitae to omoeba
English Translation: On Ikaho's slopes,
along them grows the alder wood:
onto my own robe
its color clings so well, so close,
when I think it but a single cloth.
Meaning: The dye of the alder wood along Ikaho's slopes takes so well to my robe—when I think it is a single layer of cloth.
Commentary: Book Fourteen Azuma Poems 3435

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Allegorical Poems"
As the dye of Ikaho's alders takes well to the singer's robe, so the beloved fits close to him—an allegory set in an everyday item, a robe dyed with alder.
It is one of the Kōzuke allegories. Its opening is the same as 3410, "Ikahoro no soi no harihara nemokoro ni," showing how often Ikaho's alder woods were sung.
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, "ikahoro no": Ikaho named, the same opening as 3410.
Second line, "soi no harihara": The alder wood along the slopes, the same as the second line of 3410; the bark and fruit of the alder were used as dye.
Third line, "waga kinu ni": "On my robe," the robe dyed with alder.
Fourth line, "tsukiyorashi mo yo": "Tsukiyorashi" is thought to mean takes the dye well and suits, with "mo yo" exclamatory.
Final line, "hitae to omoeba": "Hitae" is thought to mean a single-layer robe; some see in it a figure for a pure union.
Source: Manyoshu
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