Even in sunlight,
was it clear at all to you—
this heart of mine, which
hung upon the heavenly
feathered sleeves of the maiden?
- Meaning
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Even in the light of day, was it clear to you at all—this heart of mine that hung upon the maiden's heavenly feathered sleeves?
- Commentary
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Part One: Otome
The Gosechi over, the dancers withdrew, though His Majesty would have kept them in service. Koremitsu pressed his suit that his daughter be named to a vacancy among the Handmaids, and Genji was inclined to exert himself for him. Hearing of it, Yugiri was bitterly sorry: his years and his rank were so slight that he could not ask for her himself, and it seemed she would never even learn what he felt. So he spoke, more warmly than usual, to the dancer's brother, a page in his own service, and prevailed on him to carry this letter, written on thin green paper. Brother and sister were reading it together when their father, Koremitsu, came upon them and snatched it away; but on learning it was from Yugiri his face changed altogether, and he showed it to their mother, saying he would sooner give the girl to the young lord than send her into service, and that they might yet have their own Akashi novice's tale.
"Hikage" is both sunlight and the garland the Gosechi dancer hangs from her headdress. "Shikarikeme ya" asks whether it was clear, and may be read as rhetorical question or as exclamation. "Otomego" is the dancer, the maiden. "Ama no hasode" is the feathered sleeve of a heavenly maiden, likening the dancer to one descended from the sky. "Kakeshi kokoro" is the heart he set upon her, sounding "hikage" against "to hang." His hand was called childish but full of promise, and indeed the play of the pivot words is already grown-up. It is the same conceit he had ventured before by way of the kagura verse, now set out properly in a letter; and the chapter's name, Otome, comes from the "maiden" here as well.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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