Living
Li finds no Help in Wei
Translated by William Jennings (1891) · From The Shi King (Jennings, 1891), Part I, Book iii
How have the creepers on the crested slope
Crept with their tendrils far and wide!
And O, ye foster-fathers of our land,
How have our days here multiplied!
Why is there never movement made?
Comes surely some expected aid.
Why is this long, protracted pause?
'Tis surely not without a cause.
With foxfurs worn and frayed, without our cars,
Came we not Eastward here to you?
O ye, the foster-fathers of our land,
Will ye have nought with us to do?
A shattered remnant, last of all our host,
But waifs and vagabonds are we!
And ye, the foster-fathers of our land,
Smile on, but deaf ye seem to be!
Cite this poem
MLA
Shi Jing (The Book of Songs). “Li finds no Help in Wei.” Translated by William Jennings. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/shi-jing/327/.
Chicago
Shi Jing (The Book of Songs). “Li finds no Help in Wei.” Translated by William Jennings. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/shi-jing/327/.
Read this poem with the Codex →