Do not bend to the
wind of that field of the dead,
O maiden flower:
I will rope you round as mine,
far though the road may be

Meaning

Do not bend to the wind of that field of the dead, maiden flower; I will rope you round as mine, however far the road.

Commentary

Part Three: Tenarai

　In autumn the Captain, who had been the husband of the nun's dead daughter, came to the house at Ono in memory of his wife. Catching sight of Ukifune from behind through a screen, he was moved, and began to press his suit. The nun wished for the match and fretted over it, but Ukifune refused steadily. On his way back the Captain sent this poem. Ukifune would not answer it, and the nun replied in her place.

　Adashino is the burning ground at Adashino, a place name that stands for impermanence, with ada, fickle, sounding in it. The maiden flower is Ukifune. Shime yuu, to rope a thing off, is the standard way of claiming a woman. "However far the road" is the distance out to Ono, and states his resolve to keep coming.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Do not bend to the wind of that field of the dead, O maiden flower: I will rope you round as mine, far though the road may be

Do not bend to the
wind of that field of the dead,
O maiden flower:
I will rope you round as mine,
far though the road may be