As for flowers, it
is the name alone that is
light—does the maiden
flower fall into disorder
for any dew that may come

Meaning

As for flowers, it is the name alone that is light; does the maiden flower fall into disorder for any dew that comes?

Commentary

Part Three: Kagero

　A gentlewoman's reply to Kaoru's poem on the maiden flower. The name of the flower may sound light, she says, but that does not mean they yield to whoever comes. The women of the palace answer with wit and give him no ground. One more poem follows, and Kaoru's answer to it closes the set of four.

　She takes his ominaeshi, tsuyu, and ada exactly as he used them and gives them back with the sense shifted. Na koso ada nare is that it is the name and nothing else that is light, turning the sound of the flower's name against him. Nabete no tsuyu is common, ordinary dew, with the sense of anyone at all. Midare ya wa suru is a rhetorical question: it does not.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

As for flowers, it is the name alone that is light—does the maiden flower fall into disorder for any dew that may come

As for flowers, it
is the name alone that is
light—does the maiden
flower fall into disorder
for any dew that may come