I came here seeking
the voice of the pine cricket,
and once again I
have lost my way among the
dew of the bush-clover fields

Meaning

I came seeking the voice of the pine cricket, and once again I have lost my way in the dew of the bush-clover fields.

Commentary

Part Three: Tenarai

　This was spoken on the Captain's third visit to the house at Ono. He had come, he says, in memory of his dead wife, and has again been thrown into confusion by someone new. The nun wanted him for Ukifune and made much of him whenever he came, but Ukifune would not answer him even through a screen, and kept to the inner rooms.

　Matsumushi is an autumn cricket, and matsu, to wait, sounds in it: waiting for and remembering his dead wife. The dew of the bush-clover field hints at tears and stands for Ukifune, the new object of his feeling. Madoinu is both to lose one's road and to be confused in mind. Pretext and real motive are set out separately within the one poem, and his position is stated frankly.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

I came here seeking the voice of the pine cricket, and once again I have lost my way among the dew of the bush-clover fields

I came here seeking
the voice of the pine cricket,
and once again I
have lost my way among the
dew of the bush-clover fields