Lament for Broken Vows

惜余年老而日衰兮，岁忽忽而不反。

I grieve that I am old and weaken day by day, while the years hurry past and never return.

登苍天而高举兮，历众山而日远。

I climb the blue sky and soar aloft, passing over many mountains, farther from home each day.

观江河之纡曲兮，离四海之霑濡。

I look down on the rivers winding and twisting, my heart knotting with them, and I am drenched by the storms of the four seas until my clothes are soaked.

攀北极而一息兮，吸沆瀣以充虚。

I climb to the pole star and rest a moment, breathing in the midnight dew to fill my emptiness.

飞朱鸟使先驱兮，驾太一之象舆。

I send the Vermilion Bird, spirit bird of the south, flying ahead, and ride the sacred elephant carriage of Taiyi, the supreme spirit.

苍龙蚴虯于左骖兮，白虎骋而为右騑。

The Azure Dragon coils and twists as my left outer horse, and the White Tiger gallops as the right.

建日月以为盖兮，载玉女于後车。

I set up the sun and moon as my canopy and carry the Jade Maiden in the carriage behind.

驰骛于杳冥之中兮，休息虖昆仑之墟。

I race back and forth through the dark depths of the sky, then halt to rest on the high mound of Mount Kunlun, the sacred mountain.

乐穷极而不厌兮，愿从容虖神明。

Even at the limit of pleasure I am not sated; I would roam at ease with the spirits.

涉丹水而驰骋兮，右大夏之遗风。

I cross the Red River flowing from Kunlun at a gallop, and on my right behold the customs left in Daxia, the far western land.

黄鹄之一举兮，知山川之纡曲。

When the great yellow swan rises once, it sees clearly how all the mountains and rivers wind and bend.

再举兮，睹天地之圜方。

When it rises again, it sees the roundness of heaven and the squareness of earth.

临中国之众人兮，讬回飙乎尚羊。

Looking down on the crowds of the central land of Chu, I entrust myself to the whirlwind and wander far.

乃至少原之野兮，赤松、王乔皆在旁。

So I come to the wilds of Shaoyuan, where the immortals dwell, and the immortals Chisongzi and Wang Qiao are both at my side.

二子拥瑟而调均兮，余因称乎清商。

The two immortals take up their zithers and tune them, and I praise the Qingshang melody as the finest.

澹然而自乐兮，吸众气而翱翔。

Tranquil and content, I breathe in the many vital airs of dawn and noon and soar.

念我长生而久仙兮，不如反余之故乡。

Yet I think that even living for ever and long remaining an immortal would not content me; better to return to my homeland of Chu.

黄鹄後时而寄处兮，鸱枭群而制之。

When the yellow swan comes too late and seeks a place to settle, the owls flock together and hold it down.

神龙失水而陆居兮，为蝼蚁之所裁。

When the divine dragon loses its water and lives on land, it is at the mercy of crickets and ants.

夫黄鹄神龙犹如此兮，况贤者之逢乱世哉。

If even the high-flying yellow swan and the deep-hiding divine dragon fare so once they lose their place, how much worse for a worthy man without rank who meets a disordered age!

寿冉冉而日衰兮，固儃回而不息。

My years slowly wane and decline, while the courtiers of Chu keep turning with the current and never stop.

俗流从而不止兮，众枉聚而矫直。

Custom drifts with the flow and will not stop; the crooked gather together and set about straightening the upright.

或偷合而苟进兮，或隐居而深藏。

Some curry favour and push forward by any means, while others withdraw and hide themselves deep away.

苦称量之不审兮，同权概而就衡。

The trouble is that weighing is done without care: weight and leveller are applied alike to every scale.

或推迻而苟容兮，或直言之谔謣。

Some shift with the wind to find a place for themselves, while others speak out bluntly and without reserve.

伤诚是之不察兮，并纫茅丝以为索。

I grieve that the ruler cannot tell true from false, and twists straw and silk together into one rope.

方世俗之幽昏兮，眩白黑之美恶。

In this dark and benighted age, white and black, fair and foul, are blurred together.

放山渊之龟玉兮，相与贵夫砾石。

They throw away the jade of the mountains and the tortoise of the deep, and together prize mere gravel.

梅伯数谏而至醢兮，来革顺志而用国。

Mei Bo, the loyal minister of Shang, remonstrated again and again and was minced into paste, while the flatterer Lai Ge bent to the tyrant's will and ran the state.

悲仁人之尽节兮，反为小人之所贼。

How sad that a benevolent man like Mei Bo, giving all his loyalty in frank counsel, was instead slandered and destroyed by a petty man like Lai Ge.

比干忠谏而剖心兮，箕子被发而佯狂。

Bi Gan, the loyal minister of Shang, remonstrated and had his heart cut out; the worthy Jizi let down his hair and feigned madness.

水背流而源竭兮，木去根而不长。

Water that runs away from its spring sees the source dry up; a tree cut from its roots cannot grow.

非重躯以虑难兮，惜伤身之无功。

It is not that I prize my body and fear danger; I only grieve that the harm would bring no achievement.

已矣哉！独不见夫鸾凤之高翔兮，乃集大皇之野。

Enough! Have you alone not seen how the luan bird and the phoenix soar high in the sky, and only then settle in the wilds of Dahuang, the great wilderness?

循四极而回周兮，见盛德而後下。

They circle round the four limits of the world, and only descend when they see a ruler of abundant virtue.

彼圣人之神德兮，远浊世而自藏。

The wondrous virtue of those sages lies in keeping far from a muddied world and hiding themselves away.

使麒麟可得羁而係兮，又何以异虖犬羊？

If a qilin could be bridled and tied up, how would it differ from a dog or a sheep?