Ware koso ba nikuku mo arame waga yado no hanatachibana o mi ni wa koji to ya

我れこそば憎くもあらめ我がやどの
花橘を見には来じとや

Roma-ji: Ware koso ba nikuku mo arame waga yado no hanatachibana o mi ni wa koji to ya
English Translation: It is I, I know,
whom you must find hateful now,
but at my dwelling
blossoms of the orange tree—
won't you even come to see?
Meaning: It may be that you find me hateful—but will you not even come to see the tachibana blossoms at my home?
Commentary: Book Ten Summer Love Poems 1990

Headnote continued from the preceding poem: "Love Expressed Through Flowers"
This poem reproaches a beloved: perhaps he finds the speaker hateful, but he should at least come to see the tachibana at her home. While feigning self-deprecation, it shows the play of hearts that tries to lure the other with flowers as a pretext. The next poem, 1991, also ends with "koji to ya," so two poems stand side by side urging a visit with flowers as the excuse.

In the first line, "ware koso ba," "koso" is an emphatic particle in kakari-musubi with "me" in the second line.
In the second line, "nikuku mo arame," "me" is the perfective of "mu": you may find me hateful, but—leading on with a concessive sense.
The third line, "of my dwelling," refers to the speaker's home.
The fourth line, "the flowering tachibana," is the flower used as a pretext to call him.
In the last line, "mi ni wa koji to ya," "ji" is negative intention and "to ya" presses the question, closing with the reproach: won't you even come to see?
Source: Manyoshu
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