At that roughened wave
my heart is not stirred at all,
and yet how should I
not resent the shore that drew
and let such a wave come in
- Meaning
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That rough wave does not trouble my heart at all—but how should I not resent the shore that drew it in?
- Commentary
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Part One: Momiji no Ga
Genji sent this curt reply to her poem. The intrusion itself is nothing to him, he says; it is she, who drew such a man to herself, who is at fault. The whole affair taught him how foolish unguarded behavior looks, and he resolved to be more careful of himself. Afterward he and To no Chujo went on exchanging over the sash and the torn sleeve.
The "wave" is To no Chujo and the "shore" is the lady, carrying her wave imagery straight forward. "Urami" again plays "looking at the bay" against "resentment," with the shore working as an associated word. Where she piled up her double meanings, he cuts back briefly within the same set of associations: he answers, but will not be drawn in, and the poem takes that stance as its shape.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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