Mourning Fate

哀时命之不合兮，伤楚国之多忧。

I grieve that my times and my fate do not accord with my king, and I mourn that Chu, with no loyal minister left, is beset by troubles.

内怀情之洁白兮，遭乱世而离尤。

Within I cherish a pure and spotless heart, yet I have met a disordered age and incurred the blame of the crowd.

恶耿介之直行兮，世溷浊而不知。

The crowd hates upright and honest conduct; the world is muddied, and the king in his darkness does not know to employ the just.

何君臣之相失兮，上沅湘而分离。

How is it that king and minister have lost each other, and I am sent up the Yuan and Xiang rivers, parted from my lord?

测汨罗之湘水兮，知时固而不反。

I shall plumb the waters where the Miluo joins the Xiang, knowing that once gone I shall never return to Chu.

伤离散之交乱兮，遂侧身而既远。

I grieve at the parting of king and minister and the confusion of high and low, and so I turn aside and drift far away.

处玄舍之幽门兮，穴岩石而窟伏。

I dwell behind the dark gate of a shadowed abode, hollowing out the rock and lying hidden like a creature in its den.

从水蛟而为徙兮，与神龙乎休息。

I follow the water-dragons on their wanderings and rest in the company of the divine dragon.

何山石之崭岩兮，灵魂屈而偃蹇。

Why are the mountain rocks so steep and jagged? My soul is cramped and crooked here and cannot find rest.

含素水而蒙深兮，日眇眇而既远。

Holding the clear white water in my mouth I sink into the depths, and day by day I drift dimly further and further away.

哀形体之离解兮，神罔两而无舍。

I grieve that my body is worn and falling apart, and my spirit wavers like a faint shadow with nothing to lean on and nowhere to stop.

惟椒兰之不反兮，魂迷惑而不知路。

Since the flatterers Zijiao and Zilan will not turn back from their ways, my soul is bewildered and does not know which road to take.

愿无过之设行兮，虽灭没之自乐。

I wish to set out my conduct with no fault in it to the end, and even if I perish and my name is lost I shall still take joy in it.

痛楚国之流亡兮，哀灵修之过到。

I am pained that Chu is drifting towards ruin, and I lament that the Fair One, my king, has carried his errors to the utmost.

固时俗之溷浊兮，志瞀迷而不知路。

The customs of the age are foul and confused as ever, and my mind is troubled and lost, not knowing which way to go.

念私门之正匠兮，遥涉江而远去。

When I think how the ministers each build their private factions and school one another in profit, I cross the river and go far away.

念女嬃之婵媛兮，涕泣流乎于悒。

When I think of my sister Nüxu and her anxious love for me, my tears stream down and I sigh without end.

我决死而不生兮，虽重追吾何及。

I have resolved to die and not to live on; even if the king should seek me again and again, how could it be in time?

戏疾濑之素水兮，望高山之蹇产。

I play in the clear white water of the swift rapids and gaze up at the high mountain's twisting crags.

哀高丘之赤岸兮，遂没身而不反。

I grieve for the red cliffs of Chu's high hills with no worthy king to guard them, and so I sink my body in the stream and do not return.