From this wretched world
I now take my leave, and go,
leaving the name that
stays behind me in the hands
of the god of Tadasu
- Meaning
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From this wretched world I take my leave now, and I leave whatever name remains behind me to the god of Tadasu.
- Commentary
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Part One: Suma
Hearing the Lieutenant's poem, Genji felt for him keenly and dismounted himself to make his reverence toward the shrine. This poem takes the form of a farewell to the god. A young attendant of the impressionable sort looked up at him and thought the sight magnificent. The party then reached the grave, where Genji would see his father's face before him.
"This wretched world" here means leaving the capital. "The name that stays behind" is the reputation left in his absence. "Tadasu" is the Tadasu grove at the Kamo shrine, and it also plays on the verb meaning to set right, so the poem hands judgment to the god who distinguishes right from wrong. That Genji does not assert his innocence but leaves it to the god is exactly his posture in this scene.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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