Summoning the Recluse

桂树丛生兮山之幽，偃蹇连蜷兮枝相缭。

Fragrant cassia trees grow in clumps deep in the secluded hills, their trunks rearing and coiling in long curves, their branches twined together.

山气巄嵷兮石嵯峨，溪谷崭岩兮水曾波。

Mountain mists tower and billow, the rocks rise sheer and lofty; the ravines are steep and rugged, and the streams heave in layered waves.

猿狖群啸兮虎豹嗥，攀援桂枝兮聊淹留。

Apes and monkeys howl in troops, tigers and leopards roar; I cling to a cassia branch and linger here a while.

王孙游兮不归，春草生兮萋萋。

The prince's descendant wandered away and does not return, and the spring grass has grown thick and green.

岁暮兮不自聊，蟪蛄鸣兮啾啾。

The year draws to its end and the heart finds no ease; the huigu cicadas cry jiu-jiu.

坱兮轧，山曲岪，心淹留兮恫慌忽。

Mist spreads unbounded, the mountain paths twist and turn; my heart lingers here, aching and dazed.

罔兮沕，憭兮栗，虎豹穴。

Lost and sunk in spirit, chilled and trembling: this is the lair of tigers and leopards.

丛薄深林兮，人上栗。

Thick scrub and deep forest: whoever goes up into them shudders with fear.

嵚岑碕礒兮，碅磳磈硊。

The peaks are high and perilous, the crags jagged, the boulders heaped and tumbled in uneven piles.

树轮相纠兮，林木茷骫。

The spreading boughs of the trees tangle together, and the woods bend and twist in knots.

青莎杂树兮，薠草靃靡。

Green sedge grows mixed among the trees, and the fan grass, frail and soft, bends with the wind.

白鹿麏麚兮，或腾或倚。

White deer, roe deer and stags, some bounding away, some standing at rest.

状貌崟崟兮峨峨，凄凄兮漇漇。

Their antlers rise tall and towering; their coats are chill and damp as if soaked.

猕猴兮熊罴，慕类兮以悲。

Macaques and bears, black and brown, long for their own kind and cry out in grief.

攀援桂枝兮聊淹留。

I cling to a cassia branch and linger here a while, waiting.

虎豹斗兮熊罴咆，禽兽骇兮亡其曹。

Tigers and leopards fight, bears roar; birds and beasts scatter in terror and lose their companions.

王孙兮归来，山中兮不可以久留。

Descendant of princes, come back! Deep in these mountains there is too much danger; they are no place to stay for long.