The root it sprang from
runs deep, and so like the twin
pines of Takekuma
I shall set mother-pine and
small pine side by side for an age
- Meaning
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The root it sprang from runs deep, so like the twin pines of Takekuma I shall set the mother-pine and the small pine side by side for a thousand years.
- Commentary
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Part One: Usugumo
Genji answered Akashi no Kimi's poem with this one. Seeing her weep, unable to finish her verse, he thought it only natural and hard to bear, and spoke to soothe her. He told of how deep the bond was into which the child had been born, and promised to watch over mother and daughter both for years to come. He added "take it calmly" to comfort her, but though she tried to steady herself in the belief that it would be so, she could not hold back. After this the child moved to the Nijo residence, to be raised by Murasaki no Ue.
"The root it sprang from" is the deep bond of the child's birth. "The pines of Takekuma" is a poetic place in Mutsu known for twin trunks rising from one root, a figure for setting mother and daughter side by side. "The small pine" takes up her "two-leafed pine" for the child. "Side by side for an age" prays for lasting flourishing. Where she entrusted the grief of parting to a young pine, he brings out the twin pines of one root and answers that he will watch over mother and child together, the exchange built from the imagery of pines.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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