How it galls me—that
until the day she dived and
took the deep-sea weed,
she kept herself hidden there
along the rocks, this fisher girl
- Meaning
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How it galls me that until this day of the diving for deep-sea weed she kept herself hidden among the rocks—this fisher girl of mine.
- Commentary
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Part One: Miyuki
On the day itself the Minister of the Center came early. The ceremony had been arranged past all requirement and with quite unusual splendor, so that he saw for himself how much care Genji had taken—which he found at once gratifying and strange. At the hour of the Boar he was brought inside the blinds, where the lamps had been set a little brighter than is usual on such occasions, so that the girl might just be made out. He longed to see her face, but forbore, the night being so sudden; and as he tied the cord of the train he could not master himself. Genji warned him that nothing of the old days must be spoken of tonight, and that everything should follow ordinary form; and the Minister agreed—but as the cup came round he said that, boundless as his gratitude was, he could not help adding a word of reproach for so long a concealment, and made this poem, and wept in spite of himself.
"Urameshi" hides "ura," the shore. "Deep-sea weed" plays "mo," seaweed, against "mo," the train of the day. "Kazuku" plays diving for weed against putting on a garment. "Hidden among the rocks" is having stayed unacknowledged; the fisher girl is Tamakazura. Shore, offing, weed, diving, rocks, fisher—the whole vocabulary of the sea is laid through the poem. On its face it reproaches the daughter; in fact it is aimed at Genji, who kept the truth so long. To keep the forms of the occasion while smuggling a protest inside them is very like this man.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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