Waga yado no ume sakitari to tsugeyaraba ko to iu ni nitari chirinu tomo yoshi

我が宿の梅咲きたりと告げ遣らば
来と言ふに似たり散りぬともよし

Roma-ji: Waga yado no ume sakitari to tsugeyaraba ko to iu ni nitari chirinu tomo yoshi
English Translation: In my garden here
the plum has burst into bloom—
if I sent you word,
it would be like saying "Come";
so let it scatter as it will
Meaning: If I sent you word that the plum in my garden has bloomed, it would be as good as telling you to come; so let the blossoms scatter, I do not mind.
Commentary: Book Six Miscellaneous Poems 1011

Headnote: "On the twelfth day of the twelfth month of winter, the princes and courtiers of the Office of Song and Dance gathered at the house of Fujii no Muraji Hironari for a banquet; two poems. Of late the ancient dances have flourished, and the old year is drawing to its close. It is fitting that we should together exhaust our feeling for the old and sing the old songs as one. Therefore, following this spirit, we offer two old melodies. If there are among this gathering any gentlemen of refinement and spirit, let them vie in expressing their thoughts and each in his own way respond in the ancient style"
This poem says that sending word that the plum in one's garden has bloomed would be the same as urging someone to come, so the poet will not send it, and the blossoms may as well scatter. It lightly expresses the wavering between wanting to see the plum blossoms together and hesitating to seem to press a visit on the other person.
According to the headnote, this poem comes from a banquet held on the twelfth day of the twelfth month of Tenpyō 8 (736), when the princes and courtiers of the Office of Song and Dance, which oversaw the court's songs and dances, gathered at the house of Fujii no Hironari. The preface records that, since the old dances had lately flourished and the year was coming to an end, the company offered "two old melodies" so that all might exhaust their feeling for the old and sing old songs, and called on the refined guests to respond with poems in the ancient style.
The author is not named; some take the poem to be by Fujii no Hironari, the host of the banquet, while others regard it as an old song sung by those gathered, and the question remains unsettled. Fujii no Hironari was an official of the Nara period, also known as a man of letters.

This poem and the next, 1012, are the two poems that the preface calls "two old melodies." While this poem holds back even from announcing that the plum has bloomed and modestly says it may scatter, the next frankly invites the guest to come without fail to a garden where the warbler sings, so that restraint and invitation form a pair. They also answer each other through the spring pairing of plum and warbler.
The first line, "In my garden here," means "at my house." "Yado" refers to a dwelling including its house and garden.
The second line, "the plum has burst into bloom," means "the plum has bloomed." "Tari" is a perfective auxiliary showing that the flowers are now in bloom.
The third line, "if I sent you word," means "if I were to send a message." "Yaru" means to send someone to deliver something, and "ba" expresses a supposition.
The fourth line, "it would be like saying 'Come'," means "it resembles telling you to come." The line has an extra syllable, and the sense breaks here. "Ko" is an imperative, showing hesitation that the message itself would become an urging to visit.
The final line, "so let it scatter as it will," means "it does not matter even if it scatters." "Tomo" expresses an adversative supposition, and the poem closes with consideration for the other person, restraining the wish to show the plum.
Source: Manyoshu
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