The Sze Yueh

In the fourth month summer shines ;
In the sixth the heat declines.
Nature thus grants men relief ;
Tyranny gives only grief.
Were not my forefathers men ?
Can my suffering ’scape their ken?

In the cold of autumn days,
Each plant shrivels and decays.
Nature then is hard and stern ;
Living things sad lessons learn.
Friends dispersed, all order gone,
Place of refuge have I none.

Winter days are wild and fierce ;
Such is my unhappy lot,
Unbefriended and forgot !
Others all can happy be ;
I from misery ne’er am free.

On the mountains are fine trees ;
Chestnuts, plum trees, there one sees.
All the year their forms they show ;
Stately more and more they grow.
Noble turned to ravening thief !
What the cause? ‘This stirs my grief.

Waters from that spring appear
Sometimes foul, and sometimes clear,
Changing oft, as falls the rain,
Or the sky grows bright again.
New misfortunes every day
Still befall me, misery’s prey.

Aid from mighty streams obtained,
Southern States are shaped and drained.
Thus the Keang and Han are thanked,
And as benefactors ranked.
Weary toil my vigour drains ;
All unnoticed it remains !

Hawks and eagles mount the sky ;
Sturgeons in deep waters lie.
Out of reach, they safety get,
Arrow fear not, nor the net.
Hiding-place for me there’s none ;
Here I stay, and make my moan.

Ferns upon the hills abound ;
Ke and e in marshy ground.
Each can boast its proper place,
Where it grows for use or grace.
I can only sing the woe,
Which, ill-starred, I undergo.