Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Lessons from the states, Odes Of Bei

[x_los]

This is a longer chapter than the previous two, and people are still catching up with the last two chapters/acclimating to the format. Thus we'll only do one chapter this week.

I'm going to post this week's poem translations in the body of the discussion to make commenting a bit easier. 

Get your 'odes of bae' jokes out early, before the rush.

Comments

26. 柏舟 - Bo Zhou

[x_los]

汎彼柏舟、亦汎其流。
耿耿不寐、如有隱憂。
微我無酒、以敖以遊。

It floats about, that boat of cypress wood;
Yea, it floats about on the current.
Disturbed am I and sleepless,
As if suffering from a painful wound.
It is not because I have no wine,
And that I might not wander and saunder about.

我心匪鑒、不可以茹。
亦有兄弟、不可以據。
薄言往愬、逢彼之怒。

My mind is not a mirror; -
It cannot [equally] receive [all impressions].
I, indeed, have brothers,
But I cannot depend on them,
I meet with their anger.

我心匪石、不可轉也。
我心匪席、不可卷也。
威儀棣棣、不可選也。

My mind is not a stone; -
It cannot be rolled about.
My mind is not a mat; -
It cannot be rolled up.
My deportment has been dignified and good,
With nothing wrong which can be pointed out.

憂心悄悄、慍于群小。
覯閔既多、受侮不少。
靜言思之、寤辟有摽。

My anxious heart is full of trouble;
I am hated by the herd of mean creatures;
I meet with many distresses;
I receive insults not a few.
Silently I think of my case,
And, starting as from sleep, I beat my breast.

日居月諸、胡迭而微。
心之憂矣、如匪澣衣。
靜言思之、不能奮飛。

There are the sun and moon, -
How is it that the former has become small, and not the latter?
The sorrow cleaves to my heart,
Like an unwashed dress.
Silently I think of my case,
But I cannot spread my wings and fly away.

Re: 26. 柏舟 - Bo Zhou

[superborb]

I like this new poem-in-comment format! Thanks!

This poem is very sad...

Baidu says:
The lines "My mind is not a stone; -
It cannot be rolled about.
My mind is not a mat; -
It cannot be rolled up." are v famous and often quoted
And there is controversy over if the author is a minister or a woman -- seems like a lot of people think this was written by a woman though
Sun/moon often refers to husband/wife relationships in this collection

Re: 26. 柏舟 - Bo Zhou

[aeriallon]

I like this iteration of all the things the mind is not 不 ...which reminds me of the Heart Sutra, which I'm sure isn't relevant at all...

Re: 26. 柏舟 - Bo Zhou

[x_los]

Again with the funereal (?) cyprus boat, oy. Why are the Beis so depressing?

Is saunder just a typo for saunter?

[wanky fannish bit] a v wwx poem, tho

Re: 26. 柏舟 - Bo Zhou

[between4walls]

This character "如" comes up a lot in poetry, it means "as if" or "like" implying comparison. I notice that the radicals it includes are "woman" and "mouth." This amuses me, thought I may be interpreting it wrong.

Re: 26. 柏舟 - Bo Zhou

[superborb]

lol the baidu etymology says it originally meant obedient. but yeah, it's combining woman and mouth