I have come pushing
through snow on the peak, through ice
along the water:
on the road I do not lose
my way; for you I lose it

Meaning

I have come pushing through the snow on the peak and the ice along the water; on the road I do not lose my way—it is for you that I lose it.

Commentary

Part Three: Ukifune

　Having crossed past the orange isle to the far bank, Niou and Ukifune spent two days at the hideaway. Bringing up the hardship of the snowy mountain road he had forced his way along, he spoke this poem to her. She answered it. Back in the capital, worn out by the strain he had put himself to, Niou fell ill, and his visits to Uji again became rare.

　Snow on the peak and ice at the water's edge are the hard places he has crossed, set side by side to press the labour of it. Fumiwakete is to push through snow, and states the journey as it was. The second half repeats madou twice, dividing the sense: on the road he does not lose his way, but for her he does. Using one word twice in two senses is what carries the ardour of the poem.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

I have come pushing through snow on the peak, through ice along the water: on the road I do not lose my way; for you I lose it

I have come pushing
through snow on the peak, through ice
along the water:
on the road I do not lose
my way; for you I lose it