Araguma no sumu to iu yama no shihaseyama semete tou tomo na ga na wa noraji

荒熊のすむといふ山の師歯迫山
責めて問ふとも汝が名は告らじ

Roma-ji: Araguma no sumu to iu yama no shihaseyama semete tou tomo na ga na wa noraji
English Translation: Where the savage bear
is said to make its dwelling,
the Shihase hills;
though they press me with questions,
your name I will never tell
Meaning: Though I be pressed and questioned, as hard as the name of Mount Shihase where they say fierce bears dwell, I will never speak your name.
Commentary: Book Eleven Love Poems Ancient and Modern I 2696

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Feelings through Things"
However hard others may press me, I will never reveal my lover's name: so this poem vows. To reveal a name meant letting others learn the secret of a love, and the poem expresses a firm resolve to protect the beloved.
This is a poem on a mountain, and the first three lines form a preface that repeats the "se" sound of "Shihase" to lead into "seme," pressing. By bringing in a fearsome mountain where wild bears live, it impresses upon us how harsh the questioning is. The last line, "na ga na wa noraji," is shared with poem 2700, and the two echo each other in vowing to protect a lover's name. Together with the Fuji poems before and after it, it is arranged among poems on mountains.
The author is unknown. The anonymous poems of Book Eleven gather the love poems of people whose names have not come down to us.

First line, "araguma no": "of the fierce bear," bringing in a savage beast that shows how frightening the mountain is.
Second line, "sumu to iu yama no": "the mountain where they say it dwells." "To iu" marks hearsay, suggesting a mountain hard for people to approach.
Third line, "shihaseyama": the name of a mountain whose location is unknown. Its "se" sound leads into "seme," pressing, and the first three lines form a preface.
Fourth line, "semete tou tomo": "though they press and question me." "Tomo" marks a concessive supposition.
Fifth line, "na ga na wa noraji": "I will not tell your name." "Na" is a familiar word for "you," "noru" means to speak aloud, and the negative volitional "ji" states a firm resolve.
Source: Manyoshu
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