Irobukaku sena ga koromo wa somemashi o misaka tabaraba masayaka ni mimu

色深く背なが衣は染めましを
み坂給らばまさやかに見む

Roma-ji: Irobukaku sena ga koromo wa somemashi o misaka tabaraba masayaka ni mimu
English Translation: In a deeper hue
I should have dyed my man's robe;
then when he is granted
passage over the high pass,
I would see him clear and bright
Meaning: I should have dyed my husband's robe a deeper color; then when he crosses the pass, I could see him clearly.
Commentary: Book Twenty Frontier Guard Poems 4424

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Poems of the frontier guards sent in rotation to the provinces of Tsukushi in the second month of Tenpyō Shōhō 7, year of the wood sheep."
I should have dyed my husband's robe deeper; then when he crosses the pass I could see him clearly: the wife's answer to the preceding poem. According to the left note, it closes the poems presented by Azumi no Mikuni, escort officer of Musashi, and is thought to be by the wife of Fujiwarabe no Tomomaro. Where the husband wondered if she could see him wave from the pass, she answers that she should have dyed his robe dark enough to be seen from afar, and their hearts echo each other.
The author, Mononobe no Tojime, is recorded as a guard's wife and is thought to be the wife of Fujiwarabe no Tomomaro; nothing more is known of her.

The first line, "irobukaku," "in a deep color," shows her wish that it would stand out from afar.
The second line, "sena ga koromo wa," means "my husband's robe."
The third line, "somemashi o," with the counterfactual mashi, regrets: I should have dyed it. The poem pauses here.
The fourth line, "misaka tabaraba," "if he is granted passage over the pass," draws on the belief that the god of the pass allowed travelers through.
The closing line, "masayaka ni mimu," "I would see him clearly," answers the preceding poem's "will she see it clearly?"
Author: Mononobe no Tojime
Source: Manyoshu
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