Utsutae ni tori wa hamane do nawa haete moramaku hoshiki ume no hana ka mo

うつたへに鳥は食まねど縄延へて
守らまく欲しき梅の花かも

Roma-ji: Utsutae ni tori wa hamane do nawa haete moramaku hoshiki ume no hana ka mo
English Translation: Though it's not that birds
come pecking at them at all,
stretching ropes around,
how I long to guard them close—
these blossoms of the plum tree!
Meaning: It is not that birds peck at them at all, and yet these plum blossoms make me long to stretch ropes around them and stand guard.
Commentary: Book Ten Spring Miscellaneous Poems 1858

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Flowers"
This poem sings of plum blossoms so precious that one longs to rope them off and guard them, though no bird is pecking at them. The wish to protect them even without any real threat shows the depth of love and care for the blossoms. Some read the plum as a figure for a beloved, finding in the poem a lover's wish to guard someone precious from any other's touch.

The first line, "utsutae ni," with a negative following, means not at all; it answers "hamane do" in the second line.
The second line, "though birds do not peck," uses "ne," the perfective form of the negative "zu," with the adversative "do."
The third line, "stretching ropes," shows the act of fencing off something precious to protect it.
In the fourth line, "moramaku hoshiki," "maku" is the nominalized form of "mu," giving the sense of wishing to guard.
In the last line, "ume no hana ka mo," "ka mo" is exclamatory. It sets down the plum blossoms as a noun and closes with how dear they are.
Source: Manyoshu
Prev Poem: Toshi no ha ni ume wa sakedomo utsusemi no yo no hito ware shi haru nakarikeri
Next Poem: Uma namete taka no yamabe o shirotae ni niowashitaru wa ume no hana ka mo