Tarachine no haha ga yobu na o mōsamedo michiyuku hito o tare to shirite ka

たらちねの母が呼ぶ名を申さめど
道行く人を誰れと知りてか

Roma-ji: Tarachine no haha ga yobu na o mōsamedo michiyuku hito o tare to shirite ka
English Translation: The name my mother,
milk-rich mother, calls me by
I might tell you, but
you are a stranger on the road;
who are you, that I should
Meaning: I could tell you the name my mother calls me, but how can I, when you are just someone I passed on the road and I do not know who you are?
Commentary: Book Twelve Dialogue Poems 3102

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Dialogue Poems"
The girl whose name was asked gently declines the proposal, saying she cannot reveal her name to someone merely met on the road. She turns the question "who" from the preceding poem back with the same word.
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, "tarachine no," is a pillow word for "haha," mother.
Line two, "haha ga yobu na o," means "the name my mother calls me," that is, her true name.
Line three, "mōsamedo," means "I might tell it, but," read "mawosamedo" in the kana line.
Line four, "michiyuku hito o," means "you, a passer-by on the road."
Line five, "tare to shirite ka," is a rhetorical question, "knowing you as who?", answering the "ko ya tare" of the preceding poem with the same word.
Author: Unknown
Source: Manyoshu
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