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

Meaning

I saw that it was there, and it was not to be caught; I looked again, and it had gone, with no trace of where—the mayfly.

Commentary

Part Three: Kagero

　On an autumn evening Kaoru sat alone in thought and went back over what had become of the three daughters of the Eighth Prince whom he had met at Uji: Oigimi, whom he loved and let die without ever having her; Naka no Kimi, whom he gave to Niou; and Ukifune, gone without a trace. Watching a mayfly in the air before him, he spoke this to himself, and from it the chapter takes its name, Kagero. From here the tale turns to Tenarai, and to Ukifune alive.

　The kagero is the mayfly, the standard image of what does not last. "I saw that it was there, and it was not to be caught" states the whole of Kaoru's life, spent following after women he could not hold. Kieshi carries death as well. The way this character has been made is concentrated in the one poem, which is among the best known of the Uji sequence.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

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

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