Thinking there can be
no one waiting for me here,
I look at the tops
of the trees of this hill village,
and still find it hard to pass

Meaning

Thinking there can be no one here waiting for me, I look at the treetops of this hill village and still find it hard to pass by.

Commentary

Part Three: Tenarai

　The Captain's reply. He knows no one is waiting, he says, and still cannot go past when he sees the treetops of the house. The road he first took in memory of his dead wife has become the road of his attachment to Ukifune, and he states plainly how hard it is to leave off. Afterward he sent one more poem in to Ukifune herself and went away.

　Matsu hito mo araji is that no one is waiting, with some hearing matsu, pine, in matsu, to wait. "Looking at the treetops" carries on the shade and trees of her poem. Sugi uki is to find it hard to pass by. Admitting that he is refused and going all the same is where the whole of this man's persistence lies.

Author

Murasaki Shikibu

Source

Genji Monogatari

Other

Thinking there can be no one waiting for me here, I look at the tops of the trees of this hill village, and still find it hard to pass

Thinking there can be
no one waiting for me here,
I look at the tops
of the trees of this hill village,
and still find it hard to pass