The maiden flower is
more drooping than before—how,
I wonder, did the
morning dew set itself down
and leave this trace behind it
- Meaning
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The maiden flower droops more than before; how, I wonder, did the morning dew settle and leave this trace behind?
- Commentary
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Part Three: Yadorigi
On the morning after the wedding Niou sent his letter to the Sixth Daughter. She was not yet in a position to write an answer herself, and this poem was made in her place by her foster mother, the Ochiba Princess. The Sixth Daughter was Yugiri's child by To no Naishi, and because her own mother was of low rank the princess had taken her as a foster daughter. The letter keeps the form of the match, but Niou's heart was still with Naka no Kimi, and his nights away from the Nijo residence and his visits to it alternate from here.
The maiden flower is the Sixth Daughter and the morning dew is Niou. To say that the flower droops the more for the trace the dew has left describes the girl after her first night. Ikani okikeru asks how the dew set itself down, a gentle sounding-out of how the man had behaved. It keeps to form, as a poem made on another's behalf should, taking care not to let the girl's own voice be heard directly.
- Author
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Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
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Genji Monogatari
- Other
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