尼衣変はれる身にやありし世の
形見に袖をかけて偲ばむ
形見に袖をかけて偲ばむ
- Roma-ji
-
Amagoromo kawareru mi ni ya arishi yo no
katami ni sode o kakete shinobamu - English Translation
-
Though this body has
changed into a nun's habit,
shall I lay hold of
a sleeve, and remember by
it the world that once was mine
- Meaning
- Though this body has changed into a nun's habit, shall I lay hold of a sleeve and by it remember the world that once was mine?
- Commentary
-
Part Three: Tenarai
After the Governor of Kii's visit, talking with the elder nun, Ukifune spoke this. Even as a nun, she wonders, might she not send something to the service Kaoru is preparing, and so hold to the past through it. Soon after, Kaoru hears the Bishop's story from Kozaisho no Kimi in the Akashi Empress's presence, learns that Ukifune is alive, and sets out for Yokawa. The Tenarai chapter closes here.
Amagoromo is the dark habit of one who has taken vows. "A body that has changed" is a body in that habit. Katami is a keepsake by which the dead are remembered, and to use the word of herself is to place herself among the dead. Sode o kakete is to lay hold of a sleeve, and belongs with the words of clothing. The inversion by which a living woman puts herself on the side of the keepsake states her position in this chapter exactly.
- Author
- Murasaki Shikibu
- Source
- Genji Monogatari
- Other
-
- The one whose sleeve brushed mine is nowhere to be seen, and yet the scent of the blossom breathes as though it were his, this spring daybreak
- On the water, where not even his shadow stays, my tears fall and add themselves, and less than ever can I dam them back again
- Taking as my guide the road by which I went to seek a teacher of the Law, I have lost my way in hills I never thought of
- Bright as the dawn moon over the Akashi shore, and in the sea wind only the waves seemed to come drawing near, like night itself