Making a trade of
weeping until her sleeves drip,
the fisherwoman
grown old at Matsushima
heaps her own griefs up as well

Meaning

Making a trade of weeping, the fisherwoman growing old at Matsushima heaps up her griefs as well.

Commentary

Part One: Suma

　Fujitsubo answered his poem with this one. For years she had held back any sign of feeling for fear of talk; now it seemed to her that this very restraint had protected his name, and she missed him the more. The reply was a little warmer than usual.

　"Shiotaru" takes up his own word, keeping the etiquette of exchange. "Yaku" means a trade or duty and also plays on burning, tying it to the salt-burner's work. "Matsushima" likewise returns his word. "Heaping up griefs" carries an echo of heaping firewood. The coastal associations are worked through the whole poem while it states the daily grief of a life under vows, and the closeness of the technique is itself the measure of her restraint.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Making a trade of weeping until her sleeves drip, the fisherwoman grown old at Matsushima heaps her own griefs up as well

Making a trade of
weeping until her sleeves drip,
the fisherwoman
grown old at Matsushima
heaps her own griefs up as well