The dew of one night,
this night alone, on the grass
you bind as pillow—
do not set it up beside
the moss of these deep mountains

Meaning

The tears of a single night, spent on a pillow of bound grass—please do not set them beside the mossy sleeves of those who live in these deep hills.

Commentary

Part One: Wakamurasaki

　The nun answered Genji's poem with this one. Treating his words as no more than the sentiment of one night on the road, she conveys quietly that she has no intention of giving up her granddaughter. Genji found in the composure of the reply a further sign of her cultivation. He kept writing afterward, but her attitude did not change.

　"Binding a pillow" is knotting grass for a headrest on a journey, and stands for lodging away from home. She takes up his "traveler's bed" and "dew" and returns them as the exchange required. "The moss of the deep hills" is the rough habit of those who have left the world, and by saying that their tears are daily she marks the distance from a single night's feeling. The poem refuses without giving offense, exactly as she carries herself throughout.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

The dew of one night, this night alone, on the grass you bind as pillow— do not set it up beside the moss of these deep mountains

The dew of one night,
this night alone, on the grass
you bind as pillow—
do not set it up beside
the moss of these deep mountains