I should have looked at
her as a likeness and kept
her for my own—this
morning glory that the white
dew pledged itself to and left

Meaning

I should have looked on her as a likeness and kept her for myself: this morning glory that the white dew pledged itself to and left behind.

Commentary

Part Three: Yadorigi

　Kaoru called on Naka no Kimi at the Nijo residence, had a morning glory picked in the garden, and sent it in with this poem. Now that the elder sister was gone, he says, he should have kept the younger for himself as her memorial. Naka no Kimi answered with a lament over her own condition. Across her sister's death the two of them drew closer, and that closeness is what later gives rise to Niou's suspicion.

　Yosou is to liken one thing to another, to see the younger sister in place of the elder. "White dew" is Oigimi and "the morning glory" is Naka no Kimi. Calling the flower one that the dew pledged itself to and left shows a tie handed on from sister to sister. The pattern of Kaoru's mind, always after a likeness, which recurs through the whole Uji sequence, is put into words plainly here.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

I should have looked at her as a likeness and kept her for my own—this morning glory that the white dew pledged itself to and left

I should have looked at
her as a likeness and kept
her for my own—this
morning glory that the white
dew pledged itself to and left