Bearing the sad name
of what grows at Fuseya,
a house of no count,
the broom tree fades and goes out,
scarcely there at all to see

Meaning

Burdened with the name of something growing at Fuseya, a house of no account, the broom tree fades away, scarcely there at all.

Commentary

Part One: Hahakigi

　Answering Genji's poem on the broom tree, Utsusemi sent this back through Kogimi. She offers no apology for hiding, but gives her low station as the reason she can only vanish. Even with this reply in hand Genji could not put her aside, and his attachment continued past this point. The Hahakigi chapter closes with this exchange.

　"Fuseya" is a place-name at Sonohara and at the same time means a poor hut, so that the place and her low standing are bound in a single word. "Aru ni mo arazu" means to be in a state that cannot be called existing, and with it she takes the nature of Genji's broom tree onto herself. She refuses him and yet answers the poem perfectly, and by placing the reason for her refusal on her own rank rather than on him she shows the consistency that marks her throughout.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Bearing the sad name of what grows at Fuseya, a house of no count, the broom tree fades and goes out, scarcely there at all to see

Bearing the sad name
of what grows at Fuseya,
a house of no count,
the broom tree fades and goes out,
scarcely there at all to see