Still set in the hair,
it has carried what was then
down into today—
and so this jeweled small comb
has taken on the gods' age
- Meaning
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Kept in the hair just as it was, it has carried the past down into the present, and this jeweled comb has grown old and holy with the years.
- Commentary
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Part Two: Wakana Jo
Retired Emperor Suzaku's illness grew worse, and he settled on taking the vows he had long wanted to take. His one remaining care was the Third Princess, who had lost her mother and had no one to look after her. Before leaving the world he held her donning of the train and set about finding a husband who would stand behind her. Gifts came for the ceremony from many quarters, and from the Akikonomu Empress came a box of combs. Remembering the day she went down to Ise as High Priestess, when Suzaku himself had set the comb of parting in her hair, she sent this poem with them. He answered at once, and the two of them took the measure of all the years that had passed.
"Still set in the hair" is the comb left in place, and also carries the sense of remaining unchanged. "Jeweled small comb" is the fine comb of the gift, taking up the parting comb she had once been given. "Taken on the gods' age" means grown old and holy, and sounds as well the life she led in service to the gods. Though it is a poem of congratulation, it lays past and present over a single object and looks quietly back to a parting long ago. Set near the opening of the chapter, it marks where Part Two of the tale begins.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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