Sinking in the River

惟往古之得失兮，览私微之所伤。

I think over how rulers of old prospered or fell by keeping or losing the Way, and I see the harm done when a ruler favours flatterers and listens to their whispered slander.

尧舜圣而慈仁兮，後世称而弗忘。

Yao and Shun were sage kings, loving and humane, and later ages praise them and have never forgotten them.

齐桓失于专任兮，夷吾忠而名彰。

Duke Huan of Qi erred by giving sole charge of the state to Shu Diao and Yi Ya, while Guan Yiwu's loyal warning made his name shine.

晋献惑于孋姬兮，申生孝而被殃。

Duke Xian of Jin was beguiled by Li Ji, and his heir Shen Sheng, though filial, met with calamity.

偃王行其仁义兮，荆文寤而徐亡。

King Yan of Xu practised benevolence and righteousness but neglected his defences; King Wen of Chu took alarm and sent his army, and Xu was destroyed.

纣暴虐以失位兮，周得佐乎吕望。

King Zhou of Yin was cruel and tyrannical and lost his throne, while the house of Zhou gained Lü Wang as its helper and won the realm.

修往古以行恩兮，封比干之丘垄。

King Wu of Zhou followed the ways of the ancients and dispensed grace, raising a mound over the grave of the loyal minister Bi Gan.

贤俊慕而自附兮，日浸淫而合同。

The worthy and gifted of the realm admired Zhou's virtue and came to it of their own accord, growing more numerous day by day until all within the four seas were of one mind.

明法令而修理兮，兰芷幽而有芳。

Zhou's laws were clear and its government well ordered, so that even the thoroughwort and angelica in hidden places gave out their fragrance.

苦众人之妒予兮，箕子寤而佯狂。

I suffer because the crowd in Chu envies my loyalty and honesty, and I recall how Jizi, seeing the danger, let down his hair and feigned madness to escape it.

不顾地以贪名兮，心怫郁而内伤。

I would have left the soil of Chu behind and sought only a name for loyalty, yet thinking of my king's blindness my heart is choked with anger and wounded within.

联蕙芷以为佩兮，过鲍肆而失香。

One may string orchid and angelica together and wear them at the waist, yet pass through a salt-fish shop and their scent is lost.

正臣端其操行兮，反离谤而见攘。

An upright minister keeps his conduct straight, only to meet with slander and be thrust out into exile.

世俗更而变化兮，伯夷饿于首阳。

The people of the age abandon their purity and turn to greed and wickedness, while Bo Yi chose to starve to death on Mount Shouyang.

独廉洁而不容兮，叔齐久而逾明。

Alone I hold to integrity and find no place in the world, yet I hope that, like Shu Qi, my name will shine the brighter as time goes on.

浮云陈而蔽晦兮，使日月乎无光。

Drifting clouds spread across the sky and shut out the light, so that the sun and moon lose their radiance.

忠臣贞而欲谏兮，谗谀毁而在旁。

The loyal minister with a steadfast heart wishes to remonstrate, but slanderers and flatterers stand at the king's side to defame him.

秋草荣其将实兮，微霜下而夜降。

The autumn grasses flourish and are about to bear seed, when a thin frost falls in the night and kills them.

商风肃而害生兮，百草育而不长。

The west wind of autumn blows sharp and deadly, harming all that lives, and the hundred grasses sprout but cannot grow to their full height.

众并谐以妒贤兮，孤圣特而易伤。

The crowd of flatterers join together to envy the worthy, and the sage who stands alone and unaided is easily harmed.

怀计谋而不见用兮，岩穴处而隐藏。

I carry loyal plans in my breast that are never put to use, and can only dwell hidden away in a mountain cave.

成功隳而不卒兮，子胥死而不葬。

Wu Zixu's achievement in breaking Chu was complete, yet it was ruined and he came to no good end; after his death his body was cast into the river and never buried.

世从俗而变化兮，随风靡而成行。

The people of the age change with the current fashion, bending like grass before the wind and falling into line in crowds.

信直退而毁败兮，虚伪进而得当。

The honest and upright are dismissed and brought to ruin, while the false are advanced and hold high office.

追悔过之无及兮，岂尽忠而有功。

Regret for such errors comes too late; however fully I give my loyalty, how could I achieve anything?

废制度而不用兮，务行私而去公。

Those in office discard the institutions of the former kings and will not use them, bent on private gain and turning away from the public good.

终不变而死节兮，惜年齿之未央。

I will never change my principles and would rather die for them, yet I grieve that I am still young and my years are far from spent.

将方舟而下流兮，冀幸君之发矇。

I shall lash two boats together and drift downstream, hoping against hope that the king will open his clouded mind and call me back.

痛忠言之逆耳兮，恨申子之沉江。

It pains me that loyal words always grate on the king's ear, and I grieve that Wu Zixu, lord of Shen, was sunk in the river for his counsel.

愿悉心之所闻兮，遭值君之不聪。

I long to lay out with all my heart what I have seen and heard, yet I have met a king too dull of hearing to take it in.

不开寤而难道兮，不别横之与纵。

The king cannot be awakened and is hard to guide in the ways of government; he cannot even tell the weft of a cloth from its warp.

听奸臣之浮说兮，绝国家之久长。

He listens to the empty talk of treacherous ministers and cuts short the long-lasting fortune of the state.

灭规矩而不用兮，背绳墨之正方。

He abolishes the compass and square of the former sages and leaves them unused, and turns his back on the straightness the carpenter's line lays down.

离忧患而乃寤兮，若纵火于秋蓬。

Only when disaster strikes does he wake, like a fire set among dry autumn tumbleweed that can no longer be put out.

业失之而不救兮，尚何论乎祸凶。

When the enterprise is already lost beyond saving, what use is it to talk of calamity and ill fortune?

彼离畔而朋党兮，独行之士其何望？

Those who forsake the right way band together in factions; what hope is left for the man who walks alone in loyalty?

日渐染而不自知兮，秋毫微哉而变容。

Day by day the king is steeped and stained by slander without knowing it, as an autumn hair, fine as it is, grows and changes its shape unnoticed.

众轻积而折轴兮，原咎杂而累重。

Many light things piled together can snap an axle; trace the fault and it lies in the jumble of loads whose weight has mounted up.

赴湘沅之流澌兮，恐逐波而复东。

I shall go to the drifting ice of the Xiang and Yuan rivers, though I fear the waves will carry me eastward again to the sea.

怀沙砾而自沉兮，不忍见君之蔽壅。

Clasping sand and gravel I will sink myself in the water, for I cannot bear to see my king walled in by slanderers any longer.