Let this life of mine
be cut off, if cut it must—
but in a world where
nothing holds, ours is a bond
that is not of the world's kind

Meaning

Let my life be cut off if it must; but in a world where nothing holds, the bond between us is not of the world's ordinary kind.

Commentary

Part Two: Wakana Jo

　Genji took up the poem Murasaki no Ue had written out and answered it where he stood. He accepts her lament that the world shifts, and then insists that their own bond, at least, is not of the world's usual kind. But her uneasiness was not a thing words could remove, and he knew it and spoke anyway. That night he went to the Third Princess, and the balance of the Rokujo residence began, very quietly, to give way.

　"Let this life be cut off, if cut it must" is as strong a way of putting it as the language allows. "A world where nothing holds" is the impermanent world, taking up her "world." "Not of the world's kind" means a bond unlike ordinary ones, and the poem is a vow that it will not change. She spoke of change as it actually is; he speaks of a bond that does not change. Both turn on the same word, and they point in opposite directions—which is precisely the distance between where the two of them stand.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Let this life of mine be cut off, if cut it must— but in a world where nothing holds, ours is a bond that is not of the world's kind

Let this life of mine
be cut off, if cut it must—
but in a world where
nothing holds, ours is a bond
that is not of the world's kind