Though waves lie between
the near shore and the far shore,
still, I ask of you,
blow across and back again,
O river wind of Uji

Meaning

Though waves lie between the near shore and the far, blow across and back again, O river wind of Uji.

Commentary

Part Three: Shiigamoto

　Niou answered on Kaoru's behalf. Taking up the ochi, the far shore, of the prince's poem, he widens it to near shore and far, and asks that the coming and going not be broken off though the river divides them. For Niou, who had already been curious about the daughters at Uji, this reply is the first step toward them.

　Migiwa is the water's edge. "Though the waves divide" answers the white waves of the other poem. "Blow across" is an imperative, the common form of entrusting one's letters to the wind. Where the prince laments the distance, Niou grants it and asks for the exchange anyway, so that the two poems fit closely together. After this he sends word to Uji again and again.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Though waves lie between the near shore and the far shore, still, I ask of you, blow across and back again, O river wind of Uji

Though waves lie between
the near shore and the far shore,
still, I ask of you,
blow across and back again,
O river wind of Uji