In the pond water
where the one I used to see
no longer stands clear,
keeping the house all alone—
the moon of an autumn night

Meaning

In the pond water where the face I used to see no longer stands clear, the moon of this autumn night keeps the house alone.

Commentary

Part Two: Yugiri

　On the way back from Ono, Yugiri passed the Ichijo residence where Kashiwagi had lived. With its master gone the place was empty and neglected, and only the pond in the garden still held the moon as it always had. Watching the moon of the thirteenth night come out bright, he thought of his dead friend and spoke this poem. Afterward he set about arranging to bring the Fallen Leaf Princess back to that house, and had the carriages readied without waiting for her consent.

　"The one I used to see" is someone long familiar—the dead Kashiwagi. "No longer stands clear" is a reflection that will not appear, the word covering both a person's face and the light of the moon. "Clear" also sounds the word for living in a place, saying that no one lives here now. "Keeps the house" is standing guard over it, so that only the moon watches an empty home. Pivot words are laid one on another, and the loss of a friend is held inside a quiet piece of landscape.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

In the pond water where the one I used to see no longer stands clear, keeping the house all alone— the moon of an autumn night

In the pond water
where the one I used to see
no longer stands clear,
keeping the house all alone—
the moon of an autumn night