More and more the sounds
of insects thicken and crowd
this reed-grown wild yard,
and you from above the clouds
add still more dew to the dew
- Meaning
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In this overgrown house, already thick with the crying of insects, you who come from above the clouds leave behind still more dew of tears.
- Commentary
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Part One: Kiritsubo
The mother answered Myobu's poem on the bell cricket with this one. A messenger had come from the palace to the ruined house where she lived after losing her daughter, had wept with her, and was now leaving. The poem holds her feeling at that moment of parting. Afterward she entrusted Myobu with a poem to present to the Emperor, and Myobu returned to the palace with the consort's keepsakes.
"Itodoshiku" means "already too much, and now still more," setting the sense of grief laid on grief in the opening line. "Asajiu" is ground overgrown with low reeds, standing for the decline of a house that has lost its protector. "Tsuyu okisouru" is both dew settling on grass and tears being added. "Kumo no uebito" means a person of the palace, that is, Myobu herself: the one who came to console leaves having deepened the sorrow, and a quiet sadness rather than reproach runs through the whole poem.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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