I would make myself
over into those rain clouds
on the peak, that dark
the sky and never clear, and
float there, and so pass my life

Meaning

I would make myself over into those rain clouds on the peak that darken the sky and never clear, and float there, and so pass my life.

Commentary

Part Three: Ukifune

　Ukifune's reply to Niou. Taking over the clouds and the darkening sky of his poem, she says she would turn herself into those rain clouds. The sense that there is no place for her on the ground is stated plainly here for the first time, and it leads in time to the thought of the Uji river. Niou, receiving the poem, pressed all the harder to take her to himself.

　Kakikurashi is to darken the sky, and answers his "even the sky is darkening." Uki carries both floating and uki, wretched. Yo o furu is to pass one's life, with heru sounding furu, to fall as rain, so that it belongs with the clouds. For all the double meanings, the poem says one thing only—that she would be gone from this world—and it announces plainly what is to come.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

I would make myself over into those rain clouds on the peak, that dark the sky and never clear, and float there, and so pass my life

I would make myself
over into those rain clouds
on the peak, that dark
the sky and never clear, and
float there, and so pass my life