The moment I see
it as the dwelling of one
who gathers sea-grass,
my sleeves begin dripping brine
here at the pine-clad island
- Meaning
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The moment I see it as the hut of one who gathers sea-grass in her brooding, my sleeves are wet with brine at this pine-clad island.
- Commentary
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Part One: Sakaki
The year of mourning ended and the new year came in, but Fujitsubo's residence stayed quiet and all but empty. Passing houses where crowds were gathering, Genji came to call on her. Looking at the blue-grey blinds and curtains, the pale grey and gardenia sleeve-edges of a nun's household, he murmured an old poem and then spoke this one. She answered, and he could not keep back his tears.
"Nagame" plays brooding against the name of an edible seaweed, and "karu" is to cut or gather it. "Shiotaru" plays being wet with seawater against being wet with tears, working with the coastal words around it. "Matsu ga Urashima" is a poetic place-name of the north containing the word for waiting. A nun's dwelling is seen as a fisher's hut, and every coastal term in the poem is doing double duty.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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