Living

Friendship Veers with Fortune

by Shi Jing (The Book of Songs) poems c. 1000–600 BC; compilation traditionally ascribed to Confucius

Translated by William Jennings (1891) · From The Shi King (Jennings, 1891), Part II, Book v

Living

It blows, it blows, the East wind blows,
First softly, then the rains ensue.
Once were alarms and anxious fears,
And I was all in all to you;
Now there is peace and all that cheers
You turn and spurn me from your view.

It blows, it blows, the East wind blows,
First softly, then with fierce hot blast
Once, in alarm, with anxious fears,
You held me to your bosom fast;
Now there is peace and all that cheers
Away like refuse I am cast.

It blows, it blows, the East wind blows,
And on the rugged rock-crowned height
There's not a plant it fails to kill,
And not a tree it fails to blight.
Blind to my excellences still,
My little faults you keep in sight.

MLA

Shi Jing (The Book of Songs). “Friendship Veers with Fortune.” Translated by William Jennings. Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/shi-jing/415/.

Chicago

Shi Jing (The Book of Songs). “Friendship Veers with Fortune.” Translated by William Jennings. Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/shi-jing/415/.

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