The plover that shakes
the frost of daybreak from its
wings and cries aloud—
does it know, then, what is in
the heart of one who is grieving

Meaning

The plover that shakes the frost of daybreak from its wings and cries—does it know what is in the heart of one who grieves?

Commentary

Part Three: Agemaki

　Naka no Kimi's reply. She asks whether the plover cries because it knows what is in their hearts, and lets her gratitude to Kaoru show through the question. Her anxiety over her sister's illness is conveyed in the quiet form of an unanswerable question.

　To shake off the frost gives the bird concretely, in the cold. "One who is grieving" is the two sisters. Ya shiru is a question, and by putting it to a bird she makes plain that there is no one else to put it to. Taking over his plover exactly, the reply is direct and finely judged.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Here in the deep hills, where the hail comes down, morning and evening alike, the sky that I look upon goes on darkening over
The plovers at the water's edge, where the frost bites cold, cannot bear it, and the sound of their crying is sad in the growing light
In these deep mountains where the sky has clouded over and no sunlight shows, these are days in which I pass the hours with a darkened heart
The tears that fall from me in crimson are of no use to me at all, since they will not dye the cloth to the colour of mourning

The plover that shakes the frost of daybreak from its wings and cries aloud— does it know, then, what is in the heart of one who is grieving

The plover that shakes
the frost of daybreak from its
wings and cries aloud—
does it know, then, what is in
the heart of one who is grieving