The men of Cathay
and their waving sleeves are far
off and long ago,
but in each rise and each step
I did see something moving
- Meaning
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The waving sleeves of the men of Cathay belong to a distant age, but in the way you rose and moved I saw something that touched me.
- Commentary
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Part One: Momiji no Ga
Fujitsubo sent this in reply to the poem that came the day after the rehearsal. She could not leave it unanswered, and could not write anything that would grant him an opening, so she went no further than acknowledging the beauty of the dance. Genji was delighted with the brief reply, and his feeling for her grew stronger still. In time she bore a prince, and their secret became the foundation of the whole tale.
"The men of Cathay waving sleeves" refers to the Chinese origin of the court dances, tying the poem to the imported Waves of the Blue Sea. She takes up his "waving of sleeves" and returns it, as the etiquette of exchange required. But "far off" holds it at a distance, and by admiring not his heart but his bearing—the dance itself—she neatly avoids the private sense. The difficulty of her position becomes the technique of the poem.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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