To a heart that would
rise in longing to the realm
above the clouds, the
thousand-fathom deep itself
is a thing seen far below

Meaning

To a heart that would rise into the realm above the clouds, even the thousand-fathom deep is seen far below.

Commentary

Part One: Eawase

　Answering Hei no Naishi's poem, Dainy no Suke of the right spoke this one. Josanmi seems to have told of a low-born heroine rising to the court, and she boasts of that loftiness set against the depth of the sea of Ise. This exchange too went undecided, and Fujitsubo followed with a poem in the manner of a verdict.

　"Above the clouds" is the court, where the Josanmi heroine rises. "Omoinoboreru" is to aspire high. "The thousand-fathom deep" takes up the sea and depth of the other poem and places that depth below. "Seen far off" is seen far beneath. Where the other boasted of the sea's depth, this sets height against it, and the exchange is built on the contrast of deep and high.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

To a heart that would rise in longing to the realm above the clouds, the thousand-fathom deep itself is a thing seen far below

To a heart that would
rise in longing to the realm
above the clouds, the
thousand-fathom deep itself
is a thing seen far below