Down in that deep bed
a thousand fathoms far down
the seaweed's fronds grow—
and where they grow to at last
I alone shall be to see

Meaning

Down in a bed a thousand fathoms deep the fronds of seaweed grow, and I alone shall see how far they come to grow.

Commentary

Part One: Aoi

　On the day of the Kamo festival, Genji made ready to go and watch with Murasaki no Ue from the Nijo residence. Before they set out he said he would trim her long hair himself, took up the scissors, and when he had finished pronounced the blessing of "a thousand fathoms." It was then that he spoke this poem. She wrote a reply, and he admired both the skill and the youth in her hand. From this exchange their relation begins to shift from guardian and ward toward husband and wife.

　"A thousand fathoms" is the blessing spoken at a hair-trimming, wishing long life and prosperity. "Miru-busa" are fronds of seaweed, figuring hair that grows long. "Where they grow to" is the future ahead of her, and the poem declares that he alone will see it. Cast as a blessing, it states possession plainly, and it forecasts what is to come.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Down in that deep bed a thousand fathoms far down the seaweed's fronds grow— and where they grow to at last I alone shall be to see

Down in that deep bed
a thousand fathoms far down
the seaweed's fronds grow—
and where they grow to at last
I alone shall be to see