Even to a house
set far away and apart
from above the clouds,
it comes and does not forget—
this moon of the autumn night
- Meaning
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Even to a house set far apart from above the clouds it comes and does not forget—this moon of the autumn night.
- Commentary
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Part Two: Suzumushi
On the fifteenth night of the Eighth Month, Prince Hyobu, Yugiri, and a good many senior nobles came one after another to the Rokujo residence, and there was music where none had been planned; the moon banquet at the palace had been called off. Late in the evening a messenger arrived from the Reizei Emperor, who had abdicated and lived now in his own retired palace, bringing this poem. Reizei was Genji's son by Fujitsubo, and few knew the secret of his birth. Genji answered, and took the princes and young nobles with him to the retired palace, where verse and music went on until dawn.
"Above the clouds" is the palace. "Set far away and apart" is being at a distance from it, which is his own position since abdicating. "House" is where he now lives. "Does not forget" is said of the moon, which comes as it always did, and it carries under it a mild reproach to Genji, who does not. The invitation is conveyed through the moon, and inside a graceful summons lie both affection and loneliness.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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