That crimson flower
is one I find, for no cause
I can name, tiresome—
though the plum's upstanding branch
is a thing that draws my heart
- Meaning
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The crimson flower I find distasteful, for no reason I can name—though the blossom on the plum's upright branch draws my heart.
- Commentary
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Part One: Suetsumuhana
The new year came, and Genji was passing his time comfortably at the Nijo residence with Murasaki no Ue. As they amused themselves drawing, he added a red nose to a picture of a long-haired woman, then reddened his own nose and looked in the mirror, by turns alarming and amusing her. Red plum had begun to bloom in the garden, and looking at it he spoke this poem. The chapter closes on this scene, and his connection with the lady is carried on into the later Yomogiu chapter.
"The crimson flower" is the safflower, that is, Suetsumuhana, its red laid over the color of her nose. "The plum's upright branch" is blossom on a branch growing straight up, hinting at Murasaki no Ue beside him. Both are red, and one is distasteful while the other draws him: the contrast sets his feeling for the two women side by side. That he says "for no reason I can name" leaves something unresolved inside the joke.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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