Though the mist that lies
on the ridge shuts off from me
the home I have left,
is the sky I gaze upon
the same cloud-realm even so
- Meaning
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Though the mist on the ridge shuts off the home I have left, is this sky I look at the same one even so?
- Commentary
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Part One: Suma
As the boat went on, watching the waves come in and draw back, Genji murmured an old poem envying the water that returns. Looking behind him, he saw the hills he had come from set far off behind haze, and felt how far he had travelled. With even the drops from the oars hard to bear, he spoke this poem. The men with him could think of nothing but how sad it was.
"Furusato" is the place one comes from—the capital. "The mist on the ridge" is the physical barrier between them. "Kumoi" is the cloudy sky, a word used in earlier chapters for the palace and for high station. Asking whether at least the sky is shared reaches for some remaining continuity with the capital, and opens the sky imagery that runs through the Suma scenes to come.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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