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
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Opening for once the pine door of these deep hills, I have looked on a flowering face I had never seen before.
- Commentary
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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
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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