Waga seko ga sono na noraji to tamakiharu inochi wa sutetsu wasure tamau na

我が背子がその名告らじとたまきはる
命は捨てつ忘れたまふな

Roma-ji: Waga seko ga sono na noraji to tamakiharu inochi wa sutetsu wasure tamau na
English Translation: Vowing that your name,
my beloved, I would never
speak aloud to one,
this life, where the spirit dwells, I
have cast away: do not forget
Meaning: Vowing never to speak your name, my love, I have cast away my very life. Never forget it.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2531

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing One's Feelings Directly"
She has resolved to throw away her life rather than reveal her lover's name, and she begs him never to forget it: this is a woman's love poem. To tell others the beloved's name was to make the love known to the world, and the poem states directly, without speaking through objects, a fierce heart that would guard that name at the cost of life itself.
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, "waga seko ga": "of my beloved." "Seko" is a word a woman uses fondly of her husband or lover.
Second line, "sono na noraji to": "resolving not to speak that name." "Noru" means to declare a name or the like aloud, and the negative volitional auxiliary "ji" expresses firm resolve.
Third line, "tamakiharu": a pillow word attached to "life."
Fourth line, "inochi wa sutetsu": "I have cast away my life." The perfective auxiliary "tsu" closes the statement, and the poem pauses here.
Fifth line, "wasure tamau na": "do not forget." "Tamau" is an honorific auxiliary verb and "na" is a prohibitive particle, closing the poem with an earnest plea to the beloved.
Source: Manyoshu
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