Ode 9, Stanzas 1 and 3. The Tâ Kü.
A lady excuses herself for not flying to her lover by her fear of a severe and virtuous magistrate, and swears to his that she is sincere in her attachment to him.
His great carriage rolls along, And his robes of rank glitter like the young sedge. Do I not think of you? But I am afraid of this officer, and dare not (fly to you).
While living we may have to occupy different apartments; But, when dead, we shall share the same grave. If you say that I am not sincere, By the bright sun I swear that I am[1].
Book X. The Odes of Thang.
The odes of Thang were really the odes of Zin, the greatest of the fiefs of Kâu until the rise of Khin. King Khăng, in B.C. 1107, invested his younger brother, called Shû-yü, with the territory where Yâo was supposed to have ruled anciently as the marquis of Thang, in the present department of Thâi-yüan, Shan-hsî, the fief retaining that ancient name. Subsequently the name of the state was changed to Zin, from the river Zin in the southern part of it.
Ode 8, Stanza 1. The Pâo Yü.
The men of Zin, called out to warfare by the king's order, mourn over the consequent suffering of their parents, and long for their return to their ordinary agricultural pursuits, making their appeal to Heaven.
Sû-sû go the feathers of the wild geese, As
- ↑ In the 'Complete Digest' this oath is expanded in the following way:—'These words are from my heart. If you think that they are not sincere, there is (a Power) above, like the bright sun, observing me;—how should my words not be sincere?'
