Is it mist that stands
between us in this ninefold
palace, that the moon
above the clouds should be so
far off when I think of it

Meaning

Is it mist that stands between us in this ninefold palace, that I must think of the moon above the clouds from so far off?

Commentary

Part One: Sakaki

　Home from Unrin-in, Genji talked with the Emperor of past and present, then went to pay his respects to Fujitsubo as she was withdrawing. The moon was bright, and he remembered how on such nights there had once been music; so much had changed within the same palace walls. Through Omyobu came this poem from her. He answered, and forgot his grievance long enough to let the tears fall.

　"Kokonoe" is the palace. "Is it mist that stands between" is both the scene before her and the barrier between them. "The moon above the clouds" is Genji, so far away though they are under the same roof. Praising him as the moon while laying the impossibility of nearness on the mist, the poem holds a difficult balance: it refuses him and still lets feeling through.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Is it mist that stands between us in this ninefold palace, that the moon above the clouds should be so far off when I think of it

Is it mist that stands
between us in this ninefold
palace, that the moon
above the clouds should be so
far off when I think of it