Shi Jing, The Book of Odes: Minor Odes of the Kingdom, Decade of Bei Shan

[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. 

* Remember you can also look at How to Read Chinese Poetry in Context.

* 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 MAY 3.**

Comments

207. 小明 - Xiao Ming

[x_los]

明明上天、照臨下土。
我征徂西、至于艽野。
二月初吉、載離寒暑。
心之憂矣、其毒大苦。
念彼共人、涕零如雨。
豈不懷歸、畏此罪罟。

O bright and high Heaven,
Who enlightenest and rulest this lower world!
I marched on this expedition to the west,
As far as this wilderness of Qiu.
From the first day of the second month,
I have passed through the cold and the heat.
My heart is sad;
The poison [of my lot] is too bitter.
I think of those [at court] in their offices,
And my tears flow down like rain.
Do I not wish to return?
But I fear the net for crime.

昔我往矣、日月方除。
曷云其還、歲聿云莫。
念我獨兮、我事孔庶。
心之憂矣、憚我不暇。
念彼共人、睠睠懷顧。
豈不懷歸、畏此譴怒。

Formerly, when I set out,
The sun and moon had renewed the year.
When shall I return?
The year is now late.
I think how I am alone,
While the affairs devolving on me are very many.
My heart is sad;
And I am toiled without any leisure.
I think of those [at court] in their offices,
Looking back to them with fond regard.
Do I not wish to return?
But I am afraid of reproof and anger.

昔我往矣、日月方奧。
曷云其還、政事愈蹙。
歲聿云莫、采蕭穫菽。
心之憂矣、自詒伊戚。
念彼共人、興言出宿。
豈不懷歸、畏此反覆。

Formerly, when I set out,
The sun and moon were giving a mild warmth.
When shall I return?
The affairs of government are become more urgent.
It is late in the year,
And we are gathering the southernwood, and reaping the beans.
My heart is sad;
I give myself nothing but distress.
When I think of those [at court] in their offices,
I rise and pass the night outside.
Do I not wish to return?
But I am afraid of the vicissitudes of things.

嗟爾君子、無恆安處。
靖共爾位、正直是與。
神之聽之、式穀以女。

Ah! ye gentlemen!
Do not reckon on your rest being permanent.
Quietly fulfil the duties of your offices,
Associating with the correct and upright.
So shall the Spirits hearken to you,
And give you good.

嗟爾君子、無恆安息。
靖共爾位、好是正直。
神之聽之、介爾景福。

Ah! ye gentlemen!
Do not reckon on your repose being permanent.
Quietly fulfil the duties of your offices,
Loving the correct and upright.
So shall the Spirits hearken to you,
And give you large measures of bright happiness.

Re: 207. 小明 - Xiao Ming

[x_los]

"But I fear the net for crime." he's afraid of punishment for desertion of his post?

Sounds like the poet's been exiled to a far away placement and longs to return to court, and is warning others about the perils of stepping out of line or displeasing your superiors.

Re: 207. 小明 - Xiao Ming

[superborb]

Baike says the net of justice; the long arm of the law.

I think the poet is serving as an official in a far away place, not necessarily exile, just that bureaucrats had to serve away from home.