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

Other

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

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