帚木の心を知らでその原の
道にあやなくまどひぬるかな
道にあやなくまどひぬるかな
- Roma-ji
-
Hahakigi no kokoro o shirade Sonohara no
michi ni ayanaku madoinuru kana - English Translation
-
Not knowing the heart
of the broom tree that fades out,
I have lost my way
along Sonohara's road,
wandering there for nothing
- Meaning
- Not knowing your heart—the broom tree that vanishes when approached—I have wandered the Sonohara road for nothing at all.
- Commentary
-
Part One: Hahakigi
With Kogimi's help Genji went to Utsusemi once more, but sensing his approach she slipped away and hid. The boy could do nothing, and Genji had no choice but to turn back empty-handed. As he left he entrusted this poem to Kogimi to carry to her. She sent an answer, and from that exchange the chapter takes its name. Their story is carried on from here into the Utsusemi chapter.
The hahakigi is a legendary tree said to stand at Sonohara in Shinano, appearing from far off like an upright broom but vanishing as one draws near. Older poetry used it for a person one seems able to meet and never does, and Genji applies the conceit directly to Utsusemi. "Sono hara" plays the place-name Sonohara against the ordinary sense of "that plain." That the chapter itself is named from this poem shows how exactly one word here captures the figure of Utsusemi.
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
- Genji Monogatari
- Prev Poem
-
Mishi yume o au yo ari ya to nageku ma ni
me sae awade zo koro mo henikeru - Next Poem
-
Kazu naranu fuseya ni ouru na no usa ni
aru ni mo arazu kiyuru hahakigi