Tare zo kono waga yado ki yobu tarachine no haha ni korowae mono mō ware o

誰れぞこの我が宿来呼ぶたらちねの
母に嘖はえ物思ふ我れを

Roma-ji: Tare zo kono waga yado ki yobu tarachine no haha ni korowae mono mō ware o
English Translation: Who is this, then, who
comes calling at my dwelling?
Me, whose mother, milk-bestowing,
scolds me harshly, and who sits
sunk in brooding thoughts of love
Meaning: Who is it that comes to my house and calls for me? For me, who sits brooding over love after a scolding from my mother?
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2527

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
A man has come to the door of the house and calls out, and the woman answers, "Who calls for me, who sits brooding after my mother's scolding?" This is a woman's love poem. Under the obstacle of a watchful mother, gladness that he has come mingles with frustration that she cannot respond, and her words may also be read as a pretense of not knowing him, spoken for her mother to hear.
Poem 2537 in this book also sings of "the mother, milk-bestowing" and of a heart kept hidden from her, while poem 2545 tells of sending a messenger back for fear of being asked "Who is that?" In their love conducted under the eyes of the household, these poems share much with this one.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather love poems by people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "tare zo kono": "who is it, this..." The poem opens abruptly with a question formed by the particle "zo," conveying surprise and confusion.
Second line, "waga yado ki yobu": "comes to my house and calls." The attributive form "yobu" completes the "zo" of the first line, and the poem pauses here. What follows describes, in inverted order, the state of the one being called.
Third line, "tarachine no": a pillow word attached to "mother."
Fourth line, "haha ni korowae": "scolded by my mother." "Korowayu" is the verb "korofu," to scold, with the passive auxiliary "yu."
Fifth line, "mono mō ware o": "me, who am lost in brooding." The particle "o" trails off with feeling and turns back to "calls" in the second line, leaving the sense of "why call for someone like me?"
Source: Manyoshu
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