Not knowing the heart
of the wave that comes to shore,
for the jeweled weed
at Waka bay to bend down
would be a light thing indeed
- Meaning
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For the jeweled weed of Waka bay to bend without knowing the heart of the wave that reaches it would be a light thing indeed.
- Commentary
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Part One: Wakamurasaki
The nurse Shonagon answered Genji's poem with this one, refusing outright: she cannot give up so young a girl to a man whose real intentions are unknown. Genji saw that she would not be easily moved. But a few days later, hearing that the girl's father meant to take her into his own house, he carried her off on the night before.
"Waka bay" is a poetic place-name in Kii, and taking up his "Ashiwaka bay" it also sounds "waka," poetry. "Jeweled weed" is fine seaweed, here the girl. "Nabiku" plays the weed swaying in water against a woman yielding to a man, and "floating" plays being on the water against being frivolous. The reply works its coastal associations through the whole poem, and is a highly finished piece of technique.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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