How does he look on
me now, that departed soul—
and even the moon
I gaze at, likening it
to him, has gone behind cloud
- Meaning
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How does my father's spirit look on me now? Even the moon I gazed at, taking it for him, has gone behind the clouds.
- Commentary
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Part One: Suma
The path to the grave was overgrown, and as they pushed through the dew the moon went in and the trees of the wood stood dark and eerie. As he made his reverence, his father's face rose clearly before him, and a chill went through him. It was then that he spoke this poem. He returned at daybreak and sent his farewell to the Heir Apparent.
"Naki kage" is the spirit or the remembered face of the dead. "Yosoetsutsu" is likening one thing to another—he had been looking at the moon as at his father. That the moon then goes behind cloud hints that his father's protection is being withdrawn. A change in the scene stands directly for a change of heart, and among the many moon poems of this chapter this is the one most darkened by foreboding.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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