Stay the night and put
it to the proof: whether the
maiden flower will change
the colour it wears at its
height, or whether it will not

Meaning

Stay the night and put it to the proof: whether the maiden flower changes the colour it wears at its height, or does not.

Commentary

Part Three: Kagero

　The third poem of the set. Do not merely say it, she tells him: stay a night and find out. The women's answers grow bolder. Kaoru replies and closes the exchange, and there is nothing serious in his reply either; the whole passage stays within the bounds of play.

　Tabine is to sleep away from home, here to stay the night in the palace. Kokoromi yo is an imperative, put it to the test, and is a challenge. Utsuri utsurazu is whether the colour shifts or does not, with the shifting of a heart carried in it. Setting the same word twice as a pair gives the line its spring. Here the wit of the gentlewomen has him cornered.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Though I should mingle in fields where the maiden flowers are in disorder, would I let a name for being light with the dew fall on me
As for flowers, it is the name alone that is light—does the maiden flower fall into disorder for any dew that may come
If you lend me a lodging, I will sleep one night— even though my heart is not one that turns aside to the common run of flowers
I saw it was there, and it was not to be caught; I looked, and again it had vanished, with no trace of where it went—the mayfly

Stay the night and put it to the proof: whether the maiden flower will change the colour it wears at its height, or whether it will not

Stay the night and put
it to the proof: whether the
maiden flower will change
the colour it wears at its
height, or whether it will not