Since the sheltering
tree that kept the rough wind off
withered away, now
my heart has no quiet left
for the small bush clover there
- Meaning
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Ever since the shelter that kept the rough wind away withered and was gone, my heart has had no rest for the small bush clover left beneath it.
- Commentary
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Part One: Kiritsubo
The mother entrusted this poem to Myobu to be presented to the Emperor as her answer. Against his wish to bring the young prince into the palace, she set down plainly a grandmother's fear for the child. When Myobu returned with the poem and the keepsakes, the Emperor's grief deepened further, and in time the prince was indeed brought to the palace.
The "rough wind" stands for the envy and pressure of the world, and the "shelter" for what kept it off—the dead consort. "Small bush clover" picks up the phrase from the Emperor's own poem, so the exchange carries its words forward. In the single image of a small plant left exposed once its shelter is gone, the poem already anticipates the problem that runs through the whole tale: a prince with no one to back him.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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