Tarachine no haha no mikoto no koto ni araba toshi no o nagaku tanome sugimu ya

たらちねの母の命の言にあらば
年の緒長く頼め過ぎむや

Roma-ji: Tarachine no haha no mikoto no koto ni araba toshi no o nagaku tanome sugimu ya
English Translation: If the word had come
from my mother, milk-giving,
honored as she is,
would she through the long-strung years
leave me trusting all in vain?
Meaning: Had it been my mother's word, would she have left me hoping in vain through the long years?
Commentary: Book Nine Love Poems 1774

Headnote: "Two poems presented to Prince Toneri"
Had it been her mother's promise, the speaker says, she would not have been left hoping for so many years; she reproaches one who has not kept his word. The poem is thought to express, in a woman's voice, the grief of endless waiting.
According to the headnote, this is the first of two poems presented to Prince Toneri. Prince Toneri was a son of Emperor Tenmu and presided over the compilation of the Nihon Shoki.
The author, Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, was a court poet active in the reigns of Jitō and Monmu. This poem is taken from the Hitomaro Collection, which is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he gathered.

The first line, "if the word had come," includes tarachine no, a pillow word for mother.
The second line, "from my mother, milk-giving," uses mikoto, a respectful term.
The third line, "honored as she is," sets up the hypothesis "had it been her word."
The fourth line, "would she through the long-strung years," uses toshi no o, likening the years to a long cord.
The final line, "leave me trusting all in vain?" is rhetorical; tanome is the causative sense of tanomu, "to make someone rely."
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro
Source: Manyoshu
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