In the growing light
I cannot see the road home—
Maki no O hill,
which I came so far to seek,
has filled itself up with mist

Meaning

At first light I cannot see the road home: Maki no O hill, which I came so far to seek, has filled with mist.

Commentary

Part Three: Hashihime

　Kaoru had stayed at Uji until dawn, and sent this in to the sisters as he was leaving. He says nothing of having watched them, only that the mist has shut him in and he cannot go, and so conveys that he would rather stay. Oigimi answered, and from here the letters between Kaoru and the Uji sisters begin.

　Asaborake is the hour when the night pales. Maki no O is a real hill by the Uji river, and naming it gives the morning its particular place. Kirikometekeri is mist closed in on every side. To plead that one cannot leave is a common form for a poem of greeting, but coming just after he has seen the sisters, the reluctance in it is heard beneath the words.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

In the growing light I cannot see the road home— Maki no O hill, which I came so far to seek, has filled itself up with mist

In the growing light
I cannot see the road home—
Maki no O hill,
which I came so far to seek,
has filled itself up with mist