The Shih Yueh Che Kéaou

The sun and moon met in the upper sphere,
The day Sin-maou, the tenth month of the year.
The moon was new, as she should re-appear,
And then the sun, eclipsed, showed evils near.
The moon eclipsed before, and now the sun!
Alas! we men below shall be undone.

These bodies, erring, what is bad make known ;—
Good men neglected ; order all o’erthrown.
The moon eclipsed was what full oft takes place ;
The sun’s eclipse portends a sadder case.

And flashing levin shows the want of rest,
With troubled streams, and tumbling mountain’s crest.
Large heights subside to vales; deep vales grow hills.
Alas! how does the king not stop these ills?

Among the ministers great Hwang presides ;
Tn all their duties Fan the people guides ;
Kéa-pih administers ; Chung-yun is cook;
The king’s decrees Tsow enters in his book ;
K‘wei regulates the stud; the guards Yu’s sphere ;
The wife, in beauty blazing, has no fear.

Great Hwang, determined, his own course pursues,
Demands our service, nor enquires our views ;
Unroofs our homes; our fields makes moor or marsh ;
And “’Tis the law,” he says, “I am not harsh.”

Far-seeing Hwang has built himself a town.
Three ministers are there of wealth o’ergrown.
No single chief he left to guard our king,
While all its streets with hoof and chariot ring.

I dare not my own services report;
But slanderous tongues my blameless life distort.
Our ills come not from Heaven, but fawning words
And hidden hate, which schemers wield like swords.

Far off my village, great my lack of peace,
And elsewhere I might go to seek for ease.
Others retire, but I shall not be driven
From this my post, though dark the way of Heaven.