Do not lay it all
to the shallows of the river
mouth—that the barrier
of Kukita, that we thought sealed,
let the secret leak away

Meaning

Do not lay it all to the shallow river mouth—that the barrier of Kukita, which we thought sealed, let the secret leak away.

Commentary

Part One: Fujiura

　This is Yugiri's answer. Smiling a little, he made the poem and, pleading drink, played the invalid—"the years I have passed weigh on me past all reason, and I cannot think straight"—and pretended not to notice the day breaking. The women could not bring themselves to rouse him, and the Minister grumbled, "Sleeping late with a smug face"; still, Yugiri left before it was full light. His tousled morning face was a sight worth seeing.

　"Morinikeru" is: it has leaked, with "moru," to leak, sounding against "moru," to guard. "The barrier of Kukita" is another name for the river-mouth barrier, playing "kuki" on the sense of leaking. "The shallow river mouth" is water gone shallow with silt, and plays on a loose, leaky mouth. Taking over every word of her poem—river mouth, shallow, leak, barrier—he answers in the same water imagery. The barrier leaked of itself, he says; do not lay it all to the shallow mouth, to my loose tongue. Carrying off every one of her words and shifting the blame onto the barrier is deftly done—an affectionate exchange between two newly joined.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Do not lay it all to the shallows of the river mouth—that the barrier of Kukita, that we thought sealed, let the secret leak away

Do not lay it all
to the shallows of the river
mouth—that the barrier
of Kukita, that we thought sealed,
let the secret leak away