絶え間のみ世には危ふき宇治橋を
朽ちせぬものとなほ頼めとや
朽ちせぬものとなほ頼めとや
- Roma-ji
-
Taema nomi yo ni wa ayauki Ujibashi o
kuchisenu mono to nao tanome to ya - English Translation
-
The bridge of Uji,
which is broken and unsafe
so much of the time—
would you have me trust it still
as a thing that will not rot
- Meaning
- The bridge of Uji is broken and unsafe so much of the time; would you have me trust it still as a thing that will not rot?
- Commentary
-
Part Three: Ukifune
Ukifune's reply. As the bridge has gaps in it and is unsafe, she says, so his visits fall off and cannot be relied on. What actually lies behind the poem, though, is the unsafety of her own position, answering Kaoru while she hides what has passed with Niou. He took it for a complaint about how seldom he came, and did not see what was in her.
It is a well made answer, taking over his Uji bridge and kuchiseji. Taema is the gap in a bridge and at the same time the interval in which a man does not come. Ayabushi covers both the danger of the bridge and the danger of her situation. On the face of it the poem reproaches him for staying away; to a reader it states her own position exactly.
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
- Genji Monogatari
- Other
-
- I cannot dam back even my tears within these narrow sleeves of mine— how should one such as I am hold back a parting as well
- Our long promise will no more decay than the great bridge of Uji does— do not let your heart be stirred by the side of it you fear
- Though the years go by, is this a heart that will change— the heart that I pledge to you at the headland of the little isle of orange
- The colour of the little isle of orange will not change—but this boat adrift upon the water, and where it goes none can know