The upper leaves of
the small hagi I had roped
off are not disturbed—
what dew, then, has come to turn
the colour of the low leaves

Meaning

The upper leaves of the small hagi I had roped off are not disturbed; what dew, then, has turned the colour of the lower leaves?

Commentary

Part Three: Azumaya

　Ukifune had a suitor, a Sakon no Shosho, and her mother Chujo no Kimi was pleased with the match. But when the man learned that Ukifune was not the Governor of Hitachi's own daughter, only his stepdaughter, and had no property behind her, he changed at once and took the governor's real daughter instead. Betrayed, the mother sent this poem to reproach him. With the match broken there was nowhere left for Ukifune, and her mother placed her with Naka no Kimi at the Nijo residence.

　Shime yuu is to rope a thing off as one's own, said of the daughter she had raised with such care. The small hagi is Ukifune. The dew is the governor's own daughter and the lower leaves are the Shosho. Saying that the upper leaves are undisturbed while only the lower ones have changed colour is her charge of inconstancy. The images of hagi and dew are elegant while the matter of the poem is a plain quarrel about money.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

The upper leaves of the small hagi I had roped off are not disturbed— what dew, then, has come to turn the colour of the low leaves

The upper leaves of
the small hagi I had roped
off are not disturbed—
what dew, then, has come to turn
the colour of the low leaves