Makibashira tsukuru somabito isasame ni kariio no tame to tsukurikeme ya mo

真木柱作る杣人いささめに
仮廬のためと作りけめやも

Roma-ji: Makibashira tsukuru somabito isasame ni kariio no tame to tsukurikeme ya mo
English Translation: Pillars of true wood
the woodcutters who shape them,
would they, carelessly,
thinking just of some rough hut,
ever fashion such as those?
Meaning: Would the woodcutters who shape pillars of fine timber ever make them lightly, meaning them only for some makeshift hut? Surely not.
Commentary: Book Seven Allegorical Poems 1355

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Trees"
The speaker asks whether the woodcutters who shape fine pillars would make them lightly, meant only for a makeshift hut, implying that they would not. The woodcutter's work on the pillars stands for his own love and the makeshift hut for a passing affair, expressing that his love is no whim but meant to last a lifetime.
It is one of the poems on trees. Where the preceding poem sings of an unexpected union, this one declares that the love is no passing thing. The poet is unknown.

The first line, "Pillars of true wood," refers to fine pillars of cypress, cedar, and other good timber.
The second line, "the woodcutters who shape them," refers to those who fell trees in the mountains.
The third line, "would they, carelessly," means "lightly, on a whim."
The fourth line, "thinking just of some rough hut," names a makeshift shelter.
In the final line, "meya mo" is rhetorical: "would they ever make them so? Surely not."
Source: Manyoshu
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