If I could look on
that shape among the flowers
as others all do,
would there be any reserve,
even a dew's worth, in me
- Meaning
-
If I could see that figure among the blossoms as everyone else does, would there be even a dewdrop of reserve left in me?
- Commentary
-
Part One: Hana no En
Past the twentieth of the second month, a cherry banquet was held at the Shishinden. Princes and senior nobles were given rhymes and composed verses, and dances followed. Genji danced the Warbler of Spring, and the sight drew admiration from the Emperor and the whole company. Fujitsubo, now Empress, was present, and watching him among the others she spoke this poem inwardly. Carrying a secret she could tell no one, she went on behaving in public as though nothing were amiss.
"Okata ni" means in the ordinary way, with the feeling anyone might have. "That shape among the flowers" borrows the setting of the banquet to figure Genji himself, laying the dancer and the blossom together. "Tsuyu mo" means not in the least, and the word for dew also works with the flowers. By casting it as a wish—if only she could see him as the others do—she states exactly the position she cannot escape, and the loneliness of standing apart in the middle of a public occasion comes through.
- Author
-
Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
-
Genji Monogatari
- Other
-