In a dewdrop world
where at a breath they vie with
one another to go,
let no time at all pass between
the one who stays and the one who goes

Meaning

In this dewdrop world, where at a breath they vie with one another to be gone, let no time pass between the one who stays and the one who goes.

Commentary

Part Two: Minori

　Genji followed Murasaki no Ue's poem with this one. If the world is dew, he says, then let them at least not be parted—let neither be left behind. It is the state of a man facing a parting he can no longer put off. When she died he would not leave her side for anything, and Yugiri had to take charge of the funeral. This set of poems is the last time the two of them speak to one another.

　"At a breath" takes up her own phrase. "Vie with one another to go" is dewdrops disappearing one after another. "A dewdrop world" is this life, no more lasting than dew. "The one who stays and the one who goes" is being left behind and going first. "Let no time at all pass" is the wish. Carrying her dew straight over and turning it toward a wish that the two of them go together, the poem keeps the etiquette of a reply and is urgent underneath it.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

In a dewdrop world where at a breath they vie with one another to go, let no time at all pass between the one who stays and the one who goes

In a dewdrop world
where at a breath they vie with
one another to go,
let no time at all pass between
the one who stays and the one who goes