Kodakaku wa katsute ki ueji hototogisu kinaki toyomete koi masarashimu

木高くはかつて木植ゑじ霍公鳥
来鳴き響めて恋まさらしむ

Roma-ji: Kodakaku wa katsute ki ueji hototogisu kinaki toyomete koi masarashimu
English Translation: Tall enough for that
never will I plant a tree—
hototogisu
coming, singing, echoing,
would make my longing greater.
Meaning: I will never plant trees that grow tall—for the hototogisu would come and fill them with its echoing song, and make my longing worse.
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Miscellaneous Poems 1946

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "On Birds"
This poem vows never to plant tall trees, since the hototogisu would come and sing in them and make longing grow. It shows that the hototogisu's song was thought to stir up love. In contrast to 1850 in the spring section, which asked the willow to become a grove so the warbler might come and sing, this poem refuses to plant trees so the bird will not come, setting a heart that calls the bird against one that rejects it.

The first line, "kodakaku wa," so as to grow tall, sets the condition.
In the second line, "katsute ki ueji," "katsute" with a negative means never and "ji" expresses negative intention. The poem breaks here.
The third line, "hototogisu," is presented as a bird that stirs up love.
The fourth line, "coming and making it echo," describes the bird's arrival and song.
In the last line, "koi masarashimu," "shimu" is causative: it would make longing grow, the reason for not planting trees.
Source: Manyoshu
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