Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Lessons from the States, Odes Of Chen

[x_los]

* I found the best option for the weekly reminder emails, via Gmail. The external service options are more involved than our purposes require. Does anyone know anything about how to arrange an Apps Script? Basically all it has to do is tell ten people, on Saturdays, to come and get their juice/poems.

Until someone knows what to do there, I'll send out manual messages weekly. If you'd like to receive these and are not getting them, please let me know.

* If you haven't read it yet, chapter one, on tetrasyllabic shi poetry, in How to Read Chinese Poetry is hugely useful for the Book of Odes, imo.

* IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS WHO MIGHT LIKE TO JOIN or have other ideas, please let me know on this post.

* Every week I search the poems' English results to see if I can find any scholarship or neat bits and pop the results in Resources. Here is this week's collection.

**NEXT BATCH MARCH 8.**

Comments

145. 澤陂 - Ze Po

[x_los]

彼澤之陂、有蒲與荷。
有美一人、傷如之何。
寤寐無為、涕泗滂沱。

By the shores of that marsh,
There are rushes and lotus plants.
There is the beautiful lady; -
I am tortured for her, but what avails it?
Waking or sleeping, I do nothing;
From my eyes and nose the water streams.

彼澤之陂、有蒲與蕑。
有美一人、碩大且卷。
寤寐無為、中心悁悁。

By the shores of that marsh,
There are rushes and the valerian.
There is the beautiful lady;
Tall and large, and elegant.
Waking or sleeping, I do nothing;
My inmost heart is full of grief.

彼澤之陂、有蒲菡萏。
有美一人、碩大且儼。
寤寐無為、輾轉伏枕。

By the shores of that marsh,
There are rushes and lotus flowers.
There is the beautiful lady;
Tall and large, and majestic.
Waking or sleeping, I do nothing;
On my side, on my back, with my face on the pillow, I lie.

Re: 145. 澤陂 - Ze Po

[x_los]

How's the xing connecting up with the rest of the poem?

Re: 145. 澤陂 - Ze Po

[douqi]

As usual the respective genders of the person doing the pining and the person being pined after are unclear (though I very much enjoy the imagery of the 'tall, large, majestic, beautiful lady').

Re: 145. 澤陂 - Ze Po

[superborb]

The marsh is the same marsh as in Zewu jun's name. Just. In case that's relevant to anyone.

Baike:

"marsh": baike's gloss is pond/pool

"valerian": should be lotus seed head. though, one source says bluegrass. (Though to me, it makes more sense as lotus seeds, bc then it's three references to lotus?)

The Mao commentary says this is saying how after the events of #144, this led to adultery increasing the country and people are sad. Liu Yuan says this is the worries of isolated loyal officials. But modern scholars think it is a love poem either by a woman or man longing for the person they love.

Re: 145. 澤陂 - Ze Po

[x_los]

'everyone saw an Adultery and now it's a whole fad'