Midoriko no tame koso omo wa motomu to ie chi nome ya kimi ga omo motomuramu

みどり子のためこそ乳母は求むと言へ
乳飲めや君が乳母求むらむ

Roma-ji: Midoriko no tame koso omo wa motomu to ie chi nome ya kimi ga omo motomuramu
English Translation: It's for a suckling babe
that people seek a nurse,
so they say,
then do you still drink milk,
that you go seeking a nurse
Meaning: They say a wet nurse is sought for a suckling baby; do you still drink milk, that you are looking for a nurse?
Commentary: Book Twelve Expressing Thoughts Directly 2925

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Expressing Thoughts Directly"
This playful poem teases a man who seeks an older woman by likening him to a suckling infant in search of a wet nurse. The next poem appears to answer it, and the two form a single exchange.
The poet is unknown. Book Twelve, titled the second part of "Love Poems Exchanged Old and New," gathers love poems by people whose names have not come down to us, arranged by category.

Line one, "midoriko no," means "of a suckling baby." The same word appears in poem 2942 in this book, "midoriko no yonaki o shitsutsu."
Line two, "tame koso omo wa": "omo" is a wet nurse, a woman who suckles and raises a child.
Line three, "motomu to ie": "ie" is the realis form answering "koso" in line two, flowing on concessively, "so they say, and yet."
Line four, "chi nome ya kimi ga," is a mock rhetorical question, "do you drink milk, then?"
Line five, "omo motomuramu," means "that you seem to seek a nurse," teasing a man who pursues an older woman.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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