The dew lay so thick
on the road I parted through
for nothing that the
autumn sky brings the old days
back to me as I look up

Meaning

The dew lay so thick on the road I parted through for nothing that this autumn sky brings back the old days to me.

Commentary

Part Three: Yadorigi

　Visiting Naka no Kimi, Kaoru could not hold himself in and caught at her sleeve, but seeing that she was with child he checked himself and went away. He sent this the next day. The night that had come to nothing he puts into the figure of a road wet with dew. She let it pass, but the scent of his that had passed into her sleeve was to raise Niou's suspicion later.

　Itazura ni is to no purpose, said of a wish not fulfilled. "The dew lay thick on the road I parted through" is a path through grass heavy with dew, and the dew hints at tears. Mukashi oboyuru is the recollection of the days when they had spoken together at Uji. Behind the mild images of dew and an autumn sky lie a longing he could not hold and the regret that followed it.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

The dew lay so thick on the road I parted through for nothing that the autumn sky brings the old days back to me as I look up

The dew lay so thick
on the road I parted through
for nothing that the
autumn sky brings the old days
back to me as I look up