Kuroki tori kaya mo karitsutsu tsukaemedo isoshiki wake to homemu tomo arazu

黒木取り草も刈りつつ仕へめど
いそしきわけとほめむともあらず

Roma-ji: Kuroki tori kaya mo karitsutsu tsukaemedo isoshiki wake to homemu tomo arazu
English Translation: Fetching barkèd logs,
cutting thatch grass, too, I'd serve,
yet I do not think
you would praise me, saying "What
a diligent fellow he is"
Meaning: Though I serve you, fetching logs and cutting thatch, it seems you would never praise me as a hardworking fellow.
Commentary: Book Four Love Poems 780

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Five more poems sent by Ōtomo no Sukune Yakamochi to Ki no Iratsume"
Though he serves her by fetching logs and cutting thatch, he complains in jest that she would never praise him as a diligent fellow. Following his offer to roof her house, it shows the familiar banter between him and Ki no Iratsume. At the end of the original, a variant reading, "though I serve," is noted.
The author, Ōtomo no Yakamochi, was the son of Ōtomo no Tabito and a poet thought to have been deeply involved in compiling the Man'yōshū. He later rose to the rank of Middle Counselor.

First line, "Fetching barkèd logs," takes up the kuroki of the preceding poem.
Second line, "cutting thatch grass, too, I'd serve," reads the character for grass as kaya, thatch: while cutting thatch.
Third line, "yet I do not think," means though I should serve you.
Fourth line, "you would praise me, saying 'What," uses wake, a humble word for oneself: as a diligent fellow.
Fifth line, "a diligent fellow he is,'" runs to eight syllables: it seems you would not praise me.
Author: Otomo no Yakamochi
Source: Manyoshu
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