Even above clouds
the autumn moon is clouded
over now with tears—
how then can it shine down clear
on that house of withered reeds
- Meaning
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If even here above the clouds the autumn moon is blurred with tears, how could it be shining clear over that reed-grown house?
- Commentary
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Part One: Kiritsubo
After hearing Myobu's report, the Emperor lay awake far into the night. The autumn moon hung in the sky, and one memory after another returned to him—the music, the talk, the time when the consort was alive. Comparing himself, in tears even amid the splendor of the palace, with the mother now living in that reed-grown house, he spoke this poem. From then on he could not attend to affairs of state, and those around him grew quietly worried at how far he had sunk.
"Sumu" carries both the moon's "shining clear" and "dwelling" in a place, so that the dimmed moon and a life without peace fall together in one word. "Above the clouds" is the palace and the "reed-grown house" is the consort's home—two places set against each other, looking at the same moon from a distance. He speaks of his own grief, but ends by turning his thought to the other's circumstances, and in that turn his consideration shows.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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