How does the shore wind
blow there, I wonder—the sleeves
of one who thinks of
you are wet through, at a time
when the waves leave no moment
- Meaning
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How is the shore wind blowing there? The sleeves of one who thinks of you are soaked through, in a season when the waves leave no gap at all.
- Commentary
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Part One: Akashi
The storm at Suma went on for days without a break, and Genji passed the time with no sight of an end. No word came from the capital, until a single messenger from the Nijo residence forced his way through, soaked to the skin. Murasaki no Ue's letter carried this poem, and opening it Genji felt the light go out of the world. Soon after, lightning set the gallery on fire, and the tale turned toward Akashi.
"Urakaze" is the wind off the shore, standing for the conditions Genji lives in. "How does it blow?" asks after that place. "The sleeve of one who thinks of you" is her own, in the capital. "When the waves leave no gap" plays the unbroken surf against tears that never dry. The wind of his shore and the tears in her sleeve are set facing each other across a single poem, and the coastal vocabulary carried over from the Suma chapter is here spoken from the capital's side.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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