いつしかも袖うちかけむをとめ子が
世をへてなづる岩のおひさき
世をへてなづる岩のおひさき
- Roma-ji
-
Itsushika mo sode uchikakemu otomego ga
yo o hete nazuru iwa no oisaki - English Translation
-
How soon may I lay
my sleeve across her—the rock
that the heavenly
maiden strokes as ages pass,
and the years still to come here
- Meaning
- How soon may I lay my sleeve over her—the rock the heavenly maiden strokes as the ages pass—and all the years before her.
- Commentary
-
Part One: Miotsukushi
Sending the nurse's party off to Akashi, Genji provided a ceremonial sword and everything else that could be thought of, bound them all to secrecy, and sent trusted men along. His letter to Akashi no Kimi warned her again and again that the child must not be treated lightly. This poem went with it, speaking of a daughter he had not yet seen. She answered.
"Itsushika mo" expresses a wish for something soon. "To lay a sleeve over" is to take a child in one's arms. "Otomego" is a heavenly maiden, from the Buddhist figure in which she descends once in three years and wears a rock away with her robe, that span being one kalpa. The rock is the child, and the conceit prays for long life and flourishing. He uses the form of a celebratory poem for his own daughter, with the prophecy that she will one day be empress standing behind it.
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
- Genji Monogatari
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Uchitsuke no wakare o oshimu kagoto nite
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Hitori shite nazuru wa sode no hodo naki ni
ōru bakari no kage o shi zo matsu