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dankodesWelcome to Minor Odes of the Kingdom!
* 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.
* In case you missed it and are interested, some people on the com are doing a Nirvana in Fire read-along here. Anyone with thoughts is welcome to chime in.
**NEXT BATCH MARCH 29.**
* 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.
* In case you missed it and are interested, some people on the com are doing a Nirvana in Fire read-along here. Anyone with thoughts is welcome to chime in.
**NEXT BATCH MARCH 29.**
167. 采薇 - Cai Wei
曰歸曰歸、歲亦莫止。
靡室靡家、玁狁之故。
不遑啟居、玁狁之故。
Let us gather the thorn-ferns, let us gather the thorn-ferns;
The thorn-ferns are now springing up.
When shall we return? When shall we return?
It will be late in the [next] year.
Wife and husband will be separated,
Because of the Xian-yun.
We shall have no leisure to rest,
Because of the Xian-yun.
采薇采薇、薇亦柔止。
曰歸曰歸、心亦憂止。
憂心烈烈、載飢載渴。
我戍未定、靡使歸聘。
Let us gather the thorn-ferns, let us gather the thorn-ferns;
The thorn-ferns are now tender.
When shall we return? When shall we return?
Our hearts are sorrowful;
Our hearts are sad and sorrowful;
We shall hunger, we shall thirst.
While our service on guard is not finished,
We can send no one home to enquire about our families.
采薇采薇、薇亦剛止。
曰歸曰歸、歲亦陽止。
王事靡盬、不遑啟處。
憂心孔疚、我行不來。
Let us gather the thorn-ferns, let us gather the thorn-ferns;
The thorn-ferns are now hard.
When shall we return? When shall we return?
The year will be in the tenth month.
But the king's business must not be slackly performed;
We shall have no leisure to rest.
Our sorrowing hearts are in great distress;
But we shall not return from our expedition.
彼爾維何、維常之華。
彼路斯何、君子之車。
戎車既駕、四牡業業。
豈敢定居、一月三捷。
What is that so gorgeous?
It is the flowers of the cherry tree.
What carriage is that?
It is the carriage of our general.
His war carriage is yoked;
The four steeds are strong.
Dare we remain inactive?
In one month we shall have three victories.
駕彼四牡、四牡騤騤。
君子所依、小人所腓。
四牡翼翼、象弭魚服。
豈不日戒、玁狁孔棘。
The four steeds are yoked,
The four steeds, eager and strong; -
The confidence of the general,
The protection of the men.
The four steeds move regularly, like wings; -
There are the bow with its ivory ends, and the seal-skin quiver.
Shall we not daily warn one another?
The business of the Xian-yun is very urgent.
昔我往矣、楊柳依依。
今我來思、雨雪霏霏。
行道遲遲、載渴載飢。
我心傷悲、莫知我哀。
At first, when we set out,
The willows were fresh and green;
Now, when we shall be returning,
The snow will be falling in clouds.
Long and tedious will be our marching;
We shall hunger; we shall thirst.
Our hearts are wounded with grief,
And no one knows our sadness.
Re: 167. 采薇 - Cai Wei
The earliest record of the Xianyun is dated to the reign of King Xuan of Zhou (827/25–782 BC). The Book of Songs contains four songs about military actions between the Zhou and the Xianyun. The song "Gathering sow thistle" (Cai qi) mentions 3,000 Zhou chariots in battle against the Xianyun. The song "Sixth month" (Liu yue) says that the battlefield was between the lower courses of the Jing (泾河) and Luo rivers and the Wei valley, very close to the center of the Zhou state."
Re: 167. 采薇 - Cai Wei
Re: 167. 采薇 - Cai Wei
Cai-wei: We Pick Ferns, We Pick Ferns
by Burton Watson
We pick ferns, we pick ferns,
for the ferns are sprouting now:
oh to go home, to go home
before the year is over!
No rooms, no houses for us,
all because of the Xianyun,
no time to kneel or sit down,
all because of the Xianyun.
We pick ferns, we pick ferns,
the ferns now are tender:
oh to go home, to go home!
Our hearts are saddened,
our sad hearts smolder and burn.
We are hungry, we are thirsty,
no limit to our border duty,
no way to send home for news.
We pick ferns, we pick ferns,
now the ferns have grown tough
oh to go home, to go home
in the closing months of the year!
The king's business allows no slacking,
no leisure to kneel or rest
Our sad hearts are sick to death,
this journey of ours has no return!
What splendor is here?
The splendor of cherry flowers.
What chariot is this?
The chariot of our lord.
The war chariot is yoked,
four stallions sturdy and strong
How would we dare to stop and rest?
In one month, three engagements!
We yoke those four stallions,
four stallions stalwart and strong,
for our lord to ride behind,
for lesser men to shield.
Four-stallions stately,
ivory bow-ends, fish-skin quivers:
could we drop our guard for a day?
The Xianyun are fearfully swift!
Long ago we set out
when willows were rich and green.
Now we come back
through thickly falling snow
Slow-slow our march,
we are thirsty, we are hungry,
our hearts worn with sorrow,
no one knows our woe.
Re: 167. 采薇 - Cai Wei
Re: 167. 采薇 - Cai Wei
Re: 167. 采薇 - Cai Wei
Re: 167. 采薇 - Cai Wei
The thorn-ferns are basically edible weeds, gathered to satisfy their hunger.