At the foot of hills
where the withering wind has blown,
there is not so much
as the shade of a single
tree to stand hidden behind

Meaning

At the foot of these hills, where the withering wind has blown, there is not so much as a tree's shade left to stand hidden behind.

Commentary

Part Three: Tenarai

　In winter the Captain came again to the house at Ono, and this is the nun's poem. Now that Ukifune has taken vows there is no way to keep her hidden and carry messages, and the hills too have lost their leaves: not even shade to hide in. He answered, saying that he still found it hard to pass the treetops of the place, but Ukifune's mind did not move.

　Kogarashi is the winter wind that strips the leaves, at once the season and a hint that the house has been altered by Ukifune's vows. "Shade to stand hidden behind" is a tree's shade, and stands for a screen, a go-between, anything to keep one apart. The state of the household is stated by way of the landscape, in the standard fashion, and works to urge him gently to give up.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

At the foot of hills where the withering wind has blown, there is not so much as the shade of a single tree to stand hidden behind

At the foot of hills
where the withering wind has blown,
there is not so much
as the shade of a single
tree to stand hidden behind