The middle string that
we pledge to each other as
a keepsake until
we meet again—may its tune
never once alter its note

Meaning

The middle string we pledge to each other as a keepsake until we meet again—may its tuning never change at all.

Commentary

Part One: Akashi

　Genji took her murmured poem as calling words spoken in earnest careless, and answered with this one, adding that they would surely meet before the instrument fell out of tune, and trying to make her rely on him. But she only wept at the impossibility of the parting in front of her. The dawn of departure came soon after.

　"Katami" is a keepsake and also "each to the other." "Naka no o" is the middle string of the koto, its "naka" also meaning the bond between them. "Shirabe" is the tuning. "Koto ni" is especially, and also "on the koto." Handing over an instrument becomes the figure for a vow, and every part of the koto turns into a word for their relationship, so that the chapter's koto theme is concentrated in a single poem.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

The middle string that we pledge to each other as a keepsake until we meet again—may its tune never once alter its note

The middle string that
we pledge to each other as
a keepsake until
we meet again—may its tune
never once alter its note