It is the pines here
at Sumiyoshi that first
bring the sadness on,
when I set my mind upon
what happened in the gods' age
- Meaning
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The pines at Sumiyoshi are what move me first of all, when I think back on the age of the gods—and on those years of ours.
- Commentary
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Part One: Miotsukushi
That autumn Genji went to Sumiyoshi to give thanks for prayers granted. So many had been answered that the procession was magnificent, and nobles and courtiers vied to attend. The night was passed in rites of every kind and in music beyond precedent. Koremitsu and the others who had shared the hardships of Suma and Akashi felt the god's favor keenly. When Genji stepped out from within, Koremitsu offered this poem.
"Sumiyoshi" carries the sound of a good place to live. "Matsu" is the pine and also "first of all." "The age of the gods" is laid over the years of adversity at Suma and Akashi. A retainer looks back on his lord's exile, following the same pattern as the Lieutenant's poem at the Kamo fence in the Suma chapter, in which the rise and fall is told from a servant's vantage. Genji answered.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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