奥山の松葉に積もる雪とだに
消えにし人を思はましかば
消えにし人を思はましかば
- Roma-ji
-
Okuyama no matsuba ni tsumoru yuki to dani
kienishi hito o omowamashikaba - English Translation
-
If only I could
think of the one who has gone
as I think of snow
that gathers on the needles
of the pines in the deep hills
- Meaning
- If only I could think of the one who has gone as I think of the snow that gathers on the pine needles in the deep hills.
- Commentary
-
Part Three: Shiigamoto
Naka no Kimi's answer to her sister. Snow falls again, but a person does not come back. The exchange between the two of them conveys quietly how precarious life at Uji has become since their father's death, and the scene moves on to Kaoru's arrival through the snow.
"As snow, at least" is the sense of yuki to dani. Mashikaba is contrary to fact, a wish that cannot be granted. Snow melts and falls again, while a person melts away for good. Kiyu, to melt, belongs with snow, and laying that word over a human death sets the turning of the seasons sharply against the single death of a human being.
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
- Genji Monogatari
- Prev Poem
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Kimi nakute iwa no kakeji taeshi yori
matsu no yuki o mo nani to ka wa miru - Next Poem
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Yuki fukaki yama no kakehashi kimi narade
mata fumikayou ato o minu kana