奥山の松のとぼそをまれに開けて
まだ見ぬ花の顔を見るかな
まだ見ぬ花の顔を見るかな
- Roma-ji
-
Okuyama no matsu no toboso o mare ni akete
mada minu hana no kao o miru kana - English Translation
-
Opening rarely
the pine door of this deep hill
where I keep shut in,
I have looked upon the face
of a flower never seen
- Meaning
- Opening for once the pine door of these deep hills, I have looked on a flowering face I had never seen before.
- Commentary
-
Part One: Wakamurasaki
At the farewell, the holy man who had performed the rites was given a cup and spoke this poem to Genji. Long shut away in the hills and out of all human company, he sets down his surprise and pleasure at having unexpectedly seen a nobleman of the capital. He then gave Genji a ritual implement to keep as a protection, and Genji accepted it and left the mountain.
"Toboso" is a hinged door, and "the pine door" is that of a rough hermitage in the hills. "Opening for once" a door that is almost never opened presses the chance nature of this meeting. "A flowering face never seen" likens Genji's beauty to a blossom and, like the bishop's poem, praises the guest. Looking at a nobleman of the capital from the vantage of one shut in the hills catches very well what the northern-hills scenes of this chapter are doing.
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
- Genji Monogatari
- Prev Poem
-
Udonge no hana machietaru kokochi shite
miyamazakura ni me koso utsurane - Next Poem
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Yūmagure honoka ni hana no iro o mite
kesa wa kasumi no tachi zo wazurau