Though I know it well,
that not to speak may say more
than speaking would say,
to be shut out like this is
a hard thing to bear indeed

Meaning

I know well enough that silence can say more than speech, and still to be shut out like this is hard to bear.

Commentary

Part One: Suetsumuhana

　Even after Jiju's reply the lady herself said nothing. Genji pressed his way into the room, but her manner did not change and no words passed between them. This poem states his frustration. He spent the night with her, found nothing of the charm he had hoped for, and afterward let a long while go by without sending the customary morning letter.

　"Not speaking may surpass speaking" draws on an idea familiar at the time, that silence can say more than words. "Oshikometaru" is being shut up and saying nothing. He grants the value of silence as a proposition and then says it is unbearable in fact, so that the poem holds the gap between what he understands and what he feels. It also forecasts a relationship that will keep failing to meet.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Though I know it well, that not to speak may say more than speaking would say, to be shut out like this is a hard thing to bear indeed

Though I know it well,
that not to speak may say more
than speaking would say,
to be shut out like this is
a hard thing to bear indeed