Though this is the Law
that must now come to its end,
still I find in it
something to trust—this bond we
tie for lives upon lives

Meaning

Though this is the last such rite for me, still I find something to trust in it—this bond we tie between us for lives upon lives.

Commentary

Part Two: Minori

　At the dedication of the thousand sutras, Murasaki no Ue sent this poem to Hanachirusato as well. Saying that this will be her last such rite, she adds to the farewell the hope that the merit of it will bind them through lives to come. Hanachirusato had long helped hold the Rokujo household together as one of Genji's wives, and there had never been anything contentious between the two women. The chapter takes its name from this poem.

　"Must now come to its end" says without saying it that her life is ending. "The Law" is the teaching, and also the rite itself. "I find something to trust" is a form that lets the feeling arise of itself. "For lives upon lives" is a bond meant to hold into the next world. "Tie" belongs with "bond" as an associated word. The poem states an ending and turns at the close to what endures, and it is the piece by which the chapter is known.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Though this is the Law that must now come to its end, still I find in it something to trust—this bond we tie for lives upon lives

Though this is the Law
that must now come to its end,
still I find in it
something to trust—this bond we
tie for lives upon lives