Light on the water,
on the grebe lake, of the boat
that is rowed there—not
a true sail, and yet we did
look upon each other once

Meaning

Like the sail of a boat rowed out on the lake of grebes, it was nothing straight or full—and yet there was a time when we looked on each other.

Commentary

Part Three: Sawarabi

　Received at the Nijo residence on the seventh of the Second Month, Naka no Kimi passed her days in Niou's careful keeping. Hearing of it, Kaoru regretted having handed her over to Niou at all, and murmured this to himself. About the same time Yugiri, who had been planning a match between his Sixth Daughter and Niou, held the girl's coming-of-age ceremony after the twentieth and sounded Kaoru out about a marriage; Kaoru's response was cool. At the height of the cherry blossom he called at the Nijo residence and talked with Naka no Kimi, and the ease between them made Niou more wary still.

　Shinateru ya is a fixed epithet attached to Nio no umi, the old name for Lake Biwa. Everything down to "the boat that is rowed" is a preface leading to maho, which is both a boat's full sail and the state of being straight and proper. Looking back on the occasions at Uji when he had spoken with Naka no Kimi, he calls them maho naranedomo, nothing regular, and yet says the tie was there. Wrapping regret inside technique, the poem shows the bent shape of Kaoru's attachment.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Light on the water, on the grebe lake, of the boat that is rowed there—not a true sail, and yet we did look upon each other once

Light on the water,
on the grebe lake, of the boat
that is rowed there—not
a true sail, and yet we did
look upon each other once