We had promised each
other one same lotus seat,
and yet how sad this
day is, when the dew upon
the leaf is parted in two
- Meaning
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We promised each other one and the same lotus seat, and yet how sad this day is, when the dew upon the leaf has been parted in two.
- Commentary
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Part Two: Suzumushi
That summer, when the lotuses were at their height, the dedication of the Third Princess's private images was held at the Rokujo residence. Genji saw to every article himself and copied out with his own hand the Lotus Sutra she was to read. Murasaki no Ue and the other ladies prepared banners and robes for the priests, and the rite was performed on a grand scale. In the chapel, with everything in place, Genji turned to the Princess in her nun's habit and spoke of the sorrow of being the one left behind. This poem was said then. She answered coolly, and what he felt found no purchase.
"Lotus seat" is the flower on which the reborn are said to sit in paradise, and the vow to share one is a standing formula of that belief. "The dew upon the leaf parted in two" is dew from a single leaf falling apart, and it figures the pair divided by her vows. The next life is to make them one, and in this one they are already separate. Buddhist language suited to the occasion holds nothing at its center but reluctance to let go, and the poem shows Genji's late years very clearly.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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