This soul of mine that,
worn out with grief, goes drifting
loose across the sky—
bind it and hold it here, please,
by your under-garment's hem

Meaning

Bind and hold down this soul of mine, worn out with grief and drifting loose across the sky, by knotting the hem of your under-robe.

Commentary

Part One: Aoi

　Aoi no Ue was tormented by spirits, and as her time came she remained in danger. One spirit would not yield to any exorcist, and at last it asked for a moment's rest and said it had something to say to Genji. Admitted behind the curtain, he heard this poem spoken in Aoi's own body but in another voice altogether. From the voice and the manner he knew it for Rokujo no Miyasudokoro, and went cold.

　"The hem of the under-robe" refers to a belief of the time that a soul leaving the body could be held back by knotting the hem of a garment. "Midaruru" is a soul scattering loose, that is, a mind out of its senses. That the poem asks not for revenge but for rescue—hold my soul here—keeps this scene from being a simple tale of a vengeful ghost. Even as a possessing spirit she has not stopped reaching for him, and that is what makes her tragedy so deep.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

This soul of mine that, worn out with grief, goes drifting loose across the sky— bind it and hold it here, please, by your under-garment's hem

This soul of mine that,
worn out with grief, goes drifting
loose across the sky—
bind it and hold it here, please,
by your under-garment's hem