When am I to come
and wake you? For that one word
you spoke, that it be
when the dream of a night that
never ends has broken off
- Meaning
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When am I to come and wake you? You spoke one word: when the dream of a night that never ends has broken.
- Commentary
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Part Two: Yugiri
When he came to Ono, the Fallen Leaf Princess had sent word through others that she was living as if in a dream, and that if ever her mind cleared a little—. Yugiri took hold of that and wrote to her again; this poem was in the letter. Sunk in mourning, she would not answer, and rather than wait he went ahead with arrangements to bring her back to the Ichijo residence. What she herself wanted was simply left out of it.
"Wake" is to rouse someone, and from there to send word and call on them. "A night that never ends" is the darkness of grief. "When the dream has broken" repeats her own phrase. "One word" is that phrase itself. Setting what she said into the middle of his poem and asking how long he must wait is exactly his way: once he has someone's words, he does not let them go.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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