The water bird's wing,
that blue-green, does not alter
its color at all—
it is under the bush clover
that things have taken on change
- Meaning
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The water bird's blue-green wing does not change its color at all; it is under the bush clover that things have altered.
- Commentary
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Part Two: Wakana Jo
Genji answered Murasaki no Ue's poem with this one. His own heart, he says, is as unchanging as a water bird's wing; if anyone has altered it is she. But a single line was never going to settle her doubt, and he knew as well as anyone what taking the Third Princess had bent out of true. Outwardly their days went on as before, and beneath that surface her wish to leave the world kept growing.
"The water bird's wing" with its blue-green cast stands for what does not change, and it means Genji. "Under the bush clover" is the plant's lower leaves, the part that turns first in autumn, and it means Murasaki. He takes her "changed their colors" and gives back "things have taken on change," asking which of them it is who has altered. The wit lies in using the same autumn scene and reversing the direction of the reproach; the exchange is well made, but it does not answer what she was afraid of.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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