History & Politics
The King Che
Translated by James Legge (1876) · From The She King (1876), Part IV, Book I
With reverence I will go
Where duty’s path is plain.
Heaven’s will I clearly know ;
Its favour to retain
Is hard. Let me not say
Heaven is remote on high,
Nor notices men’s way.
There in the starlit sky
It round about us moves,
Inspecting all we do,
And daily disapproves
What is not just and true.
Only a child am I.
Treading in duty’s way,
With effort vain I try :
Due reverence to display.
Each day throughout the year,
How slight the progress seems !
But to the vision clear
I’ll pass from broken gleams.
Aid then my feeble youth
To bear the heavy crown.
Teach me the right and truth
Through all my life to own.
Codex Note
The young king shows his sense of what was required of him to preserve the favour of Heaven, a constant judge; intimates his good purposes; and asks the help of his ministers to be enabled to fulfil them.
Cite this poem
MLA
Shi Jing (The Book of Songs). “The King Che.” Translated by James Legge. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/shi-jing/283/.
Chicago
Shi Jing (The Book of Songs). “The King Che.” Translated by James Legge. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/shi-jing/283/.
Read this poem with the Codex →