Momosaka no fune kakuriiru yaura sashi haha wa tou tomo sono na wa noraji

百積の船隠り入る八占さし
母は問ふともその名は告らじ

Roma-ji: Momosaka no fune kakuriiru yaura sashi haha wa tou tomo sono na wa noraji
English Translation: Like a hundred-measure ship
that hides within a sheltered bay,
by every divination
though my mother questions me,
his name I will never tell
Meaning: Like a great ship laden with a hundred measures that slips into a hidden bay, though my mother questions me through every kind of divination, I will never tell her his name.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2407

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
Even if her mother resorts to divination to find out who her lover is, the daughter vows never to reveal his name; the poem sings of a resolve to guard a secret love to the end. Speaking a lover's name was something to be avoided, and the poem conveys the tension of a love her mother must not discover.
The first two lines depict a great ship slipping into a bay and form a preface that leads to "ura," the shared sound in "yaura," divination. The image of a great ship hidden deep within a bay also resonates with the wish to hide love deep within the heart. A daughter's love under her mother's watch is a subject often found in the love poems of the Man'yoshu.
The author is unknown; according to the left note, the poem comes from the Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection. That collection is thought to contain both Hitomaro's own poems and poems by others that he recorded. Kakinomoto no Hitomaro was a court poet active in the reigns of Empress Jito and Emperor Monmu, and is counted among the Thirty-Six Immortal Poets.

First line, "momosaka no": "of a hundred measures," describing a great ship; together the first and second lines form a preface leading to "yaura" in the third line.
Second line, "fune kakuriiru": "the ship goes in to hide." From the image of a great ship entering a bay to hide, it leads to the same-sounding "ura," and the preface ends here.
Third line, "yaura sashi": "performing many divinations." "Ya," eight, stands for great number, showing the mother trying every means to learn her daughter's lover.
Fourth line, "haha wa tou tomo": "even if my mother asks." The concessive-hypothetical "tomo" shows a firm will, however hard she may be questioned.
Fifth line, "sono na wa noraji": "his name I will not tell." Ending firmly with the negative-volitional auxiliary "ji," it closes on her resolve to protect her lover.
Author: Kakinomoto no Hitomaro Collection
Source: Manyoshu
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